Bad Times and Good Times
by Lily Vendrem
Summary: Strung up and left for dead, Starscream is found by the Autobots. But as he recovers, his behavior isn't what they expected.
1. Chapter 1

This is the first chapter of an RP between KD Zeal (Starscream) and myself (Ratchet, First Aid) that we started a while back and I kept saying I'd post it and now I've finally gotten around to it. Anyway, I hope you guys like it!

----

Ratchet started in surprise when a comm. request from Hound flashed in front of his optics, but he accepted anyway, figuring that the tracker wouldn't waste his time with something trivial, and was greeted by a rather nervous sounding –Ratchet? Um, you're not going to believe this…– and he could tell immediately that someone, somewhere, had done something very stupid. –What is it, Hound?– he asked, already grabbing his field kit and moving out. –Well… I've just located Starscream and he's in pretty bad shape,– Hound replied and proceeded to list the injuries he could assess on the Seeker. By the time he had finished and sent the CMO his coordinates Ratchet was about ready to spit nails. As it was, he tore out of the Ark after paging Prowl to let him know that there was an emergency and he was headed to Hound's location, sirens wailing.

Once the connection was closed and he was sure that Ratchet would be there soon, Hound moved forward to where the Decepticon was chained and offline. It was easy to locate the melted-together ends of the restraints holding Starscream to the rock, but he didn't want to break them until someone was there to catch the Seeker. He already had too much dirt in his wounds as it was. Instead, he stepped back around the rock and cautiously set about seeing if he could bring the mech online, just to assure himself that the other was, indeed, functional.

Starscream had lost track of how long he'd hung here. It should have been easy, he only had to keep track of how often the sun rose, how often the moon rose, how often freezing chill replaced burning heat, only for the heat to be replaced by the chill a couple of joors later. Of course, the fact that he was dripping energon and running on minimal systems probably made it harder, but still. It should have been easy. And then he'd gone unconscious, because unconscious was better than pain, better than rock digging into mangled wings and sensitive back-seams and watching the sky while being unable to reach it. It was better than it could have been, and Starscream knew that and was properly grateful for that, until his optics began to fry from sand and heat and glare, and then it really WAS as bad as being imprisoned somewhere, and of course Megatron wasn't going to come back for him, and he couldn't get himself free, his thrusters and null-rays were at the wrong angles to hit the chains, or the rocks to which he was bound.

Hound was growing more and more frantic as the astroseconds ticked by and he was unable to elicit any response from the mangled Seeker. He was immensely grateful when he heard Ratchet's sirens approaching and saw him crest a hill nearby, and moved back to give the medic room. Ratchet's curses when he actually saw the extent of the damage inflicted on Starscream made Hound flinch, but he moved to break Starscream loose when Ratchet told him to.

Deep scans revealed much more than the external damage Hound had told him of and he knew that if they didn't get Starscream to base soon, he wasn't going to be going anywhere but to the scrap heap. He caught the mech as the chains holding him went slack and, with Hound's assistance, removed the shackles attached to him and the medic transformed and popped open his rear doors for the tracker to load Starscream for transport.

What he really noticed was someone's arms around him, and that he was at a different angle than he had been. All he could make out was a large green shape, and that was pretty much useless for working out who had taken him down. If he were to guess though... it had to be Autobots, the Constructicons were never this gentle to... well, anyone. He was back in the darkness before he could say anything, though, and Starscream found that he just didn't care right now.

Hound could have sworn that he saw Starscream's optics power up as he was setting him in Ratchet, but when he looked again they were just as dark and lifeless as they had been when he found the seeker so he shook it off as a trick of the light and closed the doors, transforming to follow Ratchet as he set out.

Ratchet attached scanners to the Seeker to monitor his weakened systems before he pulled back onto the road and turned on his sirens and sped off, not bothering to make sure Hound was with him. He paged First Aid and ordered him to prepare the med bay for a critically injured patient, but didn't tell the medic-in-training who he was bringing in. Instead he barked orders for energon drips, a fuel pump, new tubing, anything he could think of that he would need to save the jet in his back seat. He was still listing things when he pulled into the Ark and made a sharp turn down the corridor to his domain, nearly crashing into Optimus and Ironhide in his haste. Their worried calls followed him into the med bay but he ignored them, throwing his rear doors open and barking for someone to remove his charge. First Aid was there before he'd finished speaking, reaching in and pulling the larger mech out without question or complaint. Once Ratchet had reverted to root mode, they maneuvered Starscream onto the nearest berth, careful of his mangled back plating.

Starscream wasn't really sure how much later it was that he woke. Couldn't have been that long, the shapes were all rushing about and sounding hurried, and one was bending over him, so he was pretty sure that all the fuss was on his account. His emergency fuel port hurt... oh. They were using it to fuel him. Well, yeah, that would explain the hurt... The Seeker started keening, very lowly, as pain started making itself known again. Then keen got louder and louder, but Starscream managed NOT to shriek this time, something that made him fairly proud. It was probably the extra energon... "Hurt..." he muttered, not even aware the keen had died enough for him to speak.

Ratchet set to work once he was sure Hound would explain to Prime what was going on, hooking an energon feed into Starscream's emergency fuel port before he began patching up the worst of the Seeker's injuries, setting First Aid to work on his legs and Wheeljack on his wings while he delved into the mech's innards and sorted through busted fuel and coolant lines, putting temporary patches on them as he went. The medic was just starting to cut off the flow to Starscream's primary fuel pump when a pained keening emanated from the flier's vocalizer, alerting him and his assistants to their patient's awakening. Immediately he gestured to the other two, moving them back so that Starscream wouldn't feel crowded when the jet muttered, his vocalizer quiet and raspier than usual thanks to the energon that had dried in its delicate mechanisms. "Starscream?" he called softly, centering himself in the Seeker's line of sight and working to make himself as non-threatening as possible at the same time.

Tilting his head to the side, Starscream studied the blur that was trying to get his attention. Well, mech, really, he HAD spoken. Said his name. White... White, and no lights on the head, so it wasn't that weird inventor. Seemed to be fixing him... "Ratchet?" the Seeker asked, only to whimper again. His vocalizer hurt too. Was there any part of him that DIDN'T hurt? There was, actually, both his wings and his legs were pain free. Numbed, he desperately hoped they were numb at least. "Why?" Why was he here, why had THEY rescued him, why were they wasting time on him... his question could mean many things.

Glad that the mech could at least recognize him, Ratchet nodded. "Yes, Starscream. I'm Ratchet," he murmured, hands resting on either side of the flier's torso. He flicked his gaze to where Wheeljack and First Aid stood nervously, ready for action if Starscream reacted unfavorably but otherwise compliant with the head medic's order to stay back, then looked back to Starscream, who didn't quite seem able to focus on him. Optics are probably damaged then, he thought to himself, but put the thought aside when the jet asked him why. Not really to anything in particular, but the confused and lost look on his abused face plates was enough to give Ratchet some semblance of an idea. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure what kind of answer the Decepticon expected, nor what he would accept. "Because," he settled for, knowing that it wasn't really an answer at all.

"Oh." It was a sound, properly speaking, but there was no way to work out what it meant. Starscream himself wasn't even sure, but it would probably require using his vocalizer to work it out, and he didn't really want to do that. Tilting his head the other way did nothing to fix his vision or bring any sense to the situation, so Starscream just settled back onto the berth. "Comfy..." and now it was REALLY time to shut up, because his vocalizer hurt, and he was distracting Ratchet, who seemed to be fixing him, and if he was fixed, he could talk again, and get everything worked out then. Yeah, that made sense.

Ratchet refrained from chuckling at the dazed words Starscream was speaking, knowing now was not the time to find anything his patient did or said funny, instead reaching out to touch the undamaged side of his helm, petting it in a calming gesture. "Good. Good, Starscream," he cooed reassuringly. "I'm going to put you into stasis for a while so I can work on you uninterrupted, okay?" He would do it anyway, of course, as there was no way he was going to work on all of this damage when the Seeker awake to endure it, but it was always easier on all involved if the patient accepted the procedure willingly.

He managed to rev his engine a little, only to find that IT hurt as badly as anything else he could have done. Well, even if he hadn't planned on agreeing to Ratchet's suggestion before, he would now. Nuzzling the hand that was touching him, Starscream nodded. It was kind of frightening how nice Ratchet could sound... he was probably slagged up badly if the medic sounded so soft. The Seeker didn't care, nodding softly and nuzzling the hand until he fell into stasis.

Ratchet gave a pleased rumble of his engine at the acquiescing nod and continued to stroke the other softly as he connected himself to the only undamaged data port he could find and triggered the Seeker's manual shutdown subroutine. Once the mech had gone limp, the medic disconnected and pulled back, looking at the flier once more and wondering what had happened to make him so docile. But that could and would wait until later. For now, he had a frame to repair.

He began removing the sputtering fuel pump again, silently glad that it hadn't decided to fail while he was comforting his patient. His actions were an unspoken signal for his helpers, who moved simultaneously to resume their work as well. For a long time they worked, occasionally talking but mostly cleaning dirt and debris from the various lacerations that covered Starscream's body, flushing his lines until they ran clean, patching the battered armor and replacing fried wires and sensory grids and hubs and rebuilding parts that could be salvaged, fabricating the parts that couldn't, until, at last, there was no danger of the mech offlining. It was still definitely a work in progress, being as Starscream's wings had been removed for a complete overhaul and his optics and vocalizer were still damaged, but most of him had been beaten back into shape, and now he could do almost anything he wanted to as long as he didn't strain the fresh welds. Which, Ratchet reflected as he brought the mech out of stasis, basically meant that he could sit up if someone helped him, and he might – Ratchet mentally stressed the word 'might' – be able to fuel himself if he drank slowly.

Ooh, he felt even BETTER now! Way better... well, okay, he was still achy, his processor hurt, he couldn't SEE right and his wings were gone, but hey, he felt better. Wait... "Where... Wings, where!" Oh, and his vocalizer still hurt. Starscream's hands worked, though, and he managed to grab... Ratchet, yeah, that was still Ratchet, still white and no lights. "Where. Are. They?" Starscream demanded in a frightened croak.

The medic jumped in surprise. He couldn't really say he hadn't expected that, he KNEW that fliers depended on their wings, but it still startled him when the mech lurched and although Starscream may not have realized it, the fresh welds along his arm and back plating were creaking threateningly, ready to burst if pulled just a little bit further. He quickly calmed himself and stepped closer to the Decepticon, all soothing gestures and soft words in hopes of assuaging his patient's fears. He took one of the hands still clutching his arm and gave it a gentle squeeze while his other hand moved to press the Seeker back onto the berth. "Shh, Starscream, it's okay," he promised, leaning close so that he had the Seeker's full attention. Thank Primus 'Jack and First Aid had already headed for recharge. Ratchet was certain that Starscream wouldn't appreciate showing this weakness in front of them, even though they were also, to some extent, medical personnel. "It's okay," he said again. "We just had to remove them so that we could rebuild them. They were very badly damaged. You'll have them back soon, I promise." He brought his free hand up to stroke the Seeker's helm again, hoping that he was calming the other and unsure of what else he could do if his current methods didn't help.

Slaggit, he really wished he could see. Really see, something more than 'white blur', that was... Well, he knew for a fact this was an Autobot. Nodding to himself a little, Starscream glared at what he fragging well hoped was Ratchet's face, because he would just feel SILLY otherwise. "Medical OATH? I will have them back soon?" Starscream spoke slowly, feeling rather like Soundwave as he tried to cut all unneeded words from his sentences. Maybe that was why Soundwave spoke like that? A twinge of pain from his hand drew the Seeker's attention to the recent repairs, and he made himself relax, at least physically. Medics tended to get really angry if someone hurt themselves from their own stupidity...

Ratchet couldn't help but smile at the unfocused glare directed at him, despite his attempts to squash it. Starscream just looked so… well, adorable! An odd thing for the normally pompous Air Commander… He pet the Seeker again, nodding. "Yes, Starscream," he replied solemnly. "I give my word as a medic that you will have your wings as soon as we can get them rebuilt." He continued to pet Starscream, thumb brushing gently over the newly repaired head vent while the other relaxed, glad that he didn't have to tell the flier not to stress his repairs.

He would never get that from Hook. He wouldn't get the gentleness, either, but that was secondary, really. Very enjoyable, though, Starscream wasn't completely sure when the last time he'd felt something like that from... um, anyone. "Vocals hurt." Starscream wanted to talk, wanted to ask quite a few questions, like just why Ratchet was stroking him so much. He didn't mind it, he SHOULD mind it, but it felt so nice... but that didn't explain why Ratchet was DOING it. They were ENEMIES, for Primus' sake!

"We didn't have the parts to repair it today so it'll have to wait a few days," the medic explained, adjusting his position slightly so he wasn't straining to reach over the Seeker. Ratchet considered various methods of communication for Starscream to use, from a data uplink to not giving him any way to converse tonight at all, and eventually settled for offering to get him a data pad and stylus. He would be a bit shaky, no doubt, but he would be able to communicate.

Tilting his head, again, Starscream considered the offer. By now that little question of WHY was practically eating the poor Seeker up, so he finally nodded. The blur Starscream was calling Ratchet moved, then vanished from sight completely. It didn't take very long before the blur was back, with two very tiny blurs... oh dear. Bitting at his derma a little, Starscream had to follow Ratchet's arms down to FIND the pad and stylus. Great, his handwriting was going to be as bad as every other communication method he could try. 'Why are you fixing me?' was the first question he wrote.

Ratchet felt bad for the Seeker when his hands trembled, hardly able to write, but still determined to get some answers. He read the first question and thought about how to word his answer for a moment before he sat down by Starscream's hip and spoke. "You would have died otherwise and it would have been against the Autobot ideals, not…" The medic paused, debating how personal he should get, then decided to the pit with it and continued. "Not to mention that I, as a medic, couldn't have allowed you to deactivate in good conscience." A thought occurred to him after he finished speaking. "Would you like to sit up? I can adjust the berth into a semi-upright position for you, if that will ease your ability to write."

He was taking longer to process simple questions... but even though Starscream realized that, he couldn't seem to stop DOING it. In the end, he cycled his vents and nodded, using the time while Ratchet adjusted the berth to think over his answer. Making a mental note to stop considering Hook a medic, Starscream wrote, 'I'm a prisoner?'

Ratchet frowned. A prisoner? "No. Not a prisoner, Starscream." How could he be? He had clearly been made a victim of some form of assault and left to die, so as far as Ratchet was concerned, he wasn't, and wouldn't be, a prisoner of the Autobots. "You're my patient, and it's going to stay that way, regardless of what Prime has to say." I have to talk to him about all of this tomorrow anyway, Ratchet thought to himself. Won't that be a fun conversation? The medic sneered to himself.

Starscream couldn't help but give a rasping laugh at that. He'd heard that Ratchet had a temper, and it was... somehow reassuring to see it peaking out after how very soft Ratchet had been with him. 'After I'm repaired?' He couldn't be a patient if he didn't need repairs, after all... and NO, he was not going to hurt himself so that he always needed repairs, although the though did flash across his processor. He so was not thinking clearly.

The medic smiled at Starscream's apparent amusement at his attitude. Of course Starscream would find something like him arguing with Prime funny. He read the next question and frowned again. "I'm not sure, Starscream," he admitted. Starscream was his patient first and foremost, but once his repairs were complete and Ratchet gave him a clean bill of health, Starscream was technically out of his jurisdiction. The idea of Starscream being put in the brig for an undetermined amount of time after what he'd just endured, what he was STILL enduring, didn't sit well with the medic at all.

Well, that wasn't too bad. He could handle that, really... 'As long as I can fly sometimes,' Starscream wrote. He thought for a moment, glossa tip touching his upper dermaplate, and then the Seeker nodded and added, 'Why petting me?' It didn't bother him, though it SHOULD, an Autobot grounder was treating him like... like Soundwave treated Ravage sometimes. It implied an intimacy...

"Of course," Ratchet agreed. There were precautions they could take to make sure Starscream couldn't escape, so even if Prime did insist on putting him in the brig, his confinement wouldn't be unduly painful. It was the best Ratchet could hope for. He never wanted to make others suffer… The next question made him pause in surprise. He hadn't even thought about it, hadn't considered it a big deal… Why did he do it? "Various reasons, I suppose. To soothe you, to provide something for you to concentrate on that didn't hurt… Does it bother you?"

"No," Starscream said. It was too much trouble to write it, even if it was only one word, and with the most pressing of his concerns answered, he was beginning to feel tired again. There was one more question... "Date?" Just how long had he been hanging on that rock spire? Days, weeks... months? Starscream didn't think it had been that long, he wouldn't have survived... would he have?

Well, that was a relief. He didn't want to make the flier more uncomfortable than necessary. Ratchet could see the other was fighting his recharge cycle and carefully pried the pad and stylus from his hands and set them on the table beside the Decepticon's berth, and looked back at his patient when he asked for the date. He gave it easily, wondering what the other would need it for.

Surprise rattled through Starscream when he heard the date, correlating it to the last date of which he could be sure. "Six weeks," he rasped out. No wonder he was acting so odd, he'd been trapped and... Reaching for Ratchet again, the Seeker tightened his hand around the medic's. He was too worn out to fight recharge any longer, though.

'Six weeks?' Ratchet thought uncomprehendingly as he carefully placed the slackening hand over its owner's new canopy and lowered the berth back to its normal position. He pondered the possible meanings of that statement for a few minutes while he cleaned away the last of his tools before a rather sickening thought occurred to him and he really, REALLY hoped Starscream hadn't meant… Had he been on that spire for six weeks…? The thought was terrible. How would he have SURVIVED? Deciding to stay nearby in case Starscream came online disoriented and panicked, Ratchet went to his office instead of his quarters and crawled onto the berth there, settling on his back and initiating his own recharge. It wouldn't do him any good to wonder about this, anyway. Only Starscream knew for sure and he didn't want to upset himself for no reason.

----

Starscream came awake with a jerk, he was LATE! He rolled out of the berth, planning to catch himself, he did it all the TIME, only this time something went wrong and he landed in a heap on the floor. It took a click to process what had happened, and just as the situation began to catch up to the Seeker, the pain hit. If he hadn't already been collapsed, Starscream would have fallen. As it was, he only screamed, shaking and weak.

Ratchet was out of his office and half-way through the med bay before he had even fully come out of recharge. As his processor caught up with the rest of him, he skidded in front of Starscream's berth and, for a spark-stopping astrosecond, wondered if someone had run off with the flier before logic reminded him that the screaming was loud enough to hurt his audios now, so he looked to either side of the berth, figuring (correctly, as he spotted the Seeker) that Starscream wouldn't be able to get very far on his own. Heedless of his suffering audios, he scrambled to the mech's side and helped him back onto the berth. Immediately, easily, he caught one of the mech's shaking hands in his own and allowed him to squeeze as he saw fit, stroking the Seeker's helm in much the same way as he had done the day before and making soft, reassuring noises as he glanced to make sure nothing had gotten damaged in the mech's fall.

He stopped screaming because it HURT too much, hurt way too much... a moment later, Starscream realized someone was murmuring at him, and then he remembered everything that had had happened, who he was with... With a whimper, he tried to pull Ratchet closer, feel the well-regulated warmth of a living mech in good repair. "Sor-" He couldn't finish the word, and Starscream whimpered again as he realized that he had probably completely ruined his vocalizer. Great, that would be more damage that Ratchet would have fix, he was sure to be angry about that.

Ratchet was glad when Starscream stopped screaming, although he had a feeling that it was more to do with the damage inflicted on his vocalizer than the pain in the rest of his frame diminishing, but kept making wordless noises all the same. He was surprised into silence when Starscream's other hand grasped at his arm and almost frantically tried to tug him closer. He allowed himself to be pulled down until his bumper was pressed gently alongside Starscream's cockpit with no protest. Unable to reach the Seeker's helm now, he rubbed the other's arm instead, resuming his quiet cooing when Starscream tried and failed to speak to him. Primus, he was shaking so bad, it surely couldn't all be from the pain… "Starscream," he said softly after half a breem, shifting himself so that his bumper and Starscream's glass were nearly perpendicular so he could look at the flier. "Starscream, relax, you're safe, it's okay…"

Where... Datapad, stylus, where were they, they should be... Daring to take a hand off the white frame, Starscream felt around blindly, he was sure the blur had put them down... there! He pulled them down, and had an awkward moment as he tried to work out how write without losing hold of Ratchet. 'More work for you.'

It was an awkward angle to be trying to read from, considering that the datapad had been propped against his bumper, but he finally managed to make out the words without moving from his position over Starscream and sorely wished his head was close enough to something nice and solid so he could bang his head against it once he had read what the Seeker wrote. "THAT'S the problem?" he asked, the words coming out more snappishly than he had intended.

Starscream flinched away from Ratchet, or tried, pain flashing over his face again. Meeting the medic's blue optics and biting his derma, the Seeker nodded. Of course that was the problem, well, right NOW it was. That obviously hadn't been the problem until he'd fallen out of the berth and started screaming and CAUSED the extra work. With a little difficulty, Starscream managed to raise his head and brush his faceplates against Ratchet in apology.

Ratchet winced a little when he saw how his callous words affected the Seeker. Primus, be an aft to the poor mech, he berated himself. Bad enough that the Seeker was already traumatized, scared and hurt, Ratchet had to show off his 'good morning, sunshine' attitude to make things worse. Seeing Starscream's actions for the (misplaced) apology they were, he calmed himself and caressed the flier's helm, ending with his hand cupping the side of the other's helm, stroking the dark faceplates with his thumb. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you. You haven't done anything wrong," he murmured soothingly. He continued in a slightly more amused tone after a moment's silence. "If anything, you've probably made my job easier. It's easier to replace a vocalizer than to take one apart and replace its delicate components."

Again he considered, again he tilted his head. Starscream was beginning to hate that tick of his... He hadn't done that since before he joined the Decepticons, slaggit! Still, he managed to smile at Ratchet, the medic meant what he was saying... right? And the hand was so comforting on his face... Another thought had him moving, writing again. 'Maybe this time I'll get a voc. that isn't like sand in audios.' He offered the datapad to Ratchet with a grin, he'd probably be laughing if he could. And even while he felt stupid for being so open, Starscream couldn't manage to reach the detachment he had become used to.

Ratchet laughed as he read the words. "I'm certain we could work something out if you like. Perhaps you'd prefer a more feminine tone?" he teased. As an afterthought – and it WAS an afterthought, although it should have been the first thing he did once he'd calmed his patient – he ran a deep scan over the Seeker, checking to see if he'd torn open any of his internal repairs and was pleased when the scan came up negative. A few weakened seals, but it could have been worse. "And it looks like the only thing you messed up was your vocalizer with that little stunt of yours," he said, more to ignore the sense of… well, something that he didn't much care to analyze while he was leaning over Starscream like this that Starscream's demeanor, his words, his position in general, invoked in him than anything else.

Starscream stuck out his glossa and glared at Ratchet in return for the laughter and teasing. He was NOT a femme, even if Seekers rather did look feminine. A moment later he was simply smiling, relaxing again. Ratchet really wasn't angry, wasn't acting nice just to get him off guard... of course he wasn't, he was an Autobot. 'Friends be helping?' the Seeker asked. He knew his handwriting was worse than normal, larger than normal, so he tried not to use too many words, unsure of when he'd run into the edges of the datapad. 'Oh, optics fritzing too.' And he needed energon, but a medic ought to know that.

The medic chuckled again at the other's childish behavior, shifting to better accommodate his bent position. "All right, I guess we can work out something vaguely masculine for you," he consented good-naturedly as he read the newest line of words. "Yes, Wheeljack and First Aid will be helping, and I know your optics are damaged. We'll be working on those today." Speaking of which… First Aid would be showing up soon. Ratchet decided it was time to get up and get them both some energon. He moved his hand away from Starscream's helm, placing it on the berth to help push himself up.

Right, so he'd known that. Not surprising, it was rather obvious that his optics weren't working right... And Starscream didn't mind the other medics helping, or knowing about his situation. Enough others knew about his situation anyway, even if they weren't at this base. Turning his head, the Seeker licked the arm by his head, just because he could, because he couldn't seem to stop acting like a youngling and he was already getting tired of trying to restrain himself.

Ratchet tilted his head curiously at the lick but decided the action was harmless enough and stood the rest of the way. "I'm going to get some energon for us," he informed the Seeker as he set the hand that had still been gripping him on the berth and moved toward his office. He quickly retrieved two cubes of energon and came back to the berth. He set both cubes on the table and tweaked the controls on the berth to sit Starscream up enough to fuel him. "Would you like to fuel yourself, or do you want me to do it?"

And for once he wasn't the one tilting his head to the side! His elation over that small victory was enough to keep Starscream from moving is head at all when Ratchet asked his question. He might enjoy Ratchet feeding him, but... the Seeker wanted to see if he could fuel himself first. Reaching for the glowing smudge of an energon cube, Starscream focused very hard on not spilling it. Not spilling all of it, at least, he thought ruefully as a large splash landed in his lap. Still, there was still energon in the cube by the time he managed to get it to his mouth.

Taking a sip of his own cube, Ratchet settled himself at the end of Starscream's berth. He watched quietly as the other stubbornly picked up his cube by himself, spilling a little over a third as he brought it to his lips. The Seeker was determined to have some measure of control, it seemed. That was fine. As they drank, Ratchet made a mental list of all the things he would need to do today. Fix Starscream's optics, obviously. Starscream would probably feel better if he could see his surroundings. He would have to talk to Optimus at some point, too. Perhaps he could get First Aid to keep Starscream company while he went to see Prime…? He'd talk to his student about it later. He drained his cube with a small sigh, glad for the boost it gave his systems after having missed the chance to refuel yesterday.

Well, Ratchet wasn't laughing. Didn't seem to be smiling, either, but Starscream knew that it was really impossible for him to tell. He was going to need to get cleaned up now... well, actually, that was already a given. The energy felt oh so very good to his systems, and it was much better to intake it properly instead of through his emergency port. 'Knock me offline, or just numb? Prefer numb.' He'd prefer to be able to see, or talk, but either way... So far Ratchet had been good about explaining what was going to happen to him, but sometimes, well, the medic couldn't guess all of his questions. Starscream had quite a lot of questions, really, he wanted to be... he WAS a scientist! Great, what was wrong with his processor?

"I would usually put you under for the operation, but numbing you works just as well, and you'll be able to speed up the calibration process if you're online for it," Ratchet answered as First Aid rushed in, barely on time for his shift and still gulping down his morning ration. "Good morning, First Aid," he said, not bothering to turn. A slightly muffled "Good morning!" and the click of First Aid's mask snapping into place answered him, making him smile a little in amusement. As First Aid walked past him with an armful of rags, he snagged one off the top so he could clean Starscream before the operation. As he cleaned the flier, he ordered First Aid to collect the kit they'd prepared the day before so they could get straight to work on Starscream's optics.

Oh, nice, he'd only be numbed, AND he'd be able to help Ratchet! Lifting a hand, Starscream waved a little at... First Aid, who was that? Well, he would see First Aid later, well, soon, but would actually be able to make him out near the end of the day, probably. That was the whole point of this, wasn't it? The Seeker squirmed in the berth a little while Ratchet mopped the energon up, not trying to stop Ratchet, but just wanting to see what First Aid was doing. Watching a blur wasn't very exciting, though.

First Aid came over with his arms full of the stuff they would need to repair Starscream's optics as Ratchet finished cleaning Starscream up, so the CMO took advantage of his trainee's presence to dispose of the soiled rag and get himself cleaned for the operation. First Aid would surely be able to take care of the Seeker on his own, and with the way Starscream had been acting, he seemed more curious about First Aid than bothered by him. As he sanitized his hands and arms, he watched the two of them, noting First Aid's considerate, if slightly useless, attempts at showing Starscream what they would be using to repair his malfunctioning optical data processor. Well, if nothing else, First Aid could talk the Seeker into recharge while he discussed the situation with Prime later.

Well, mostly red and some white, instead of Ratchet's mostly white. And still no lights on the head. This wasn't so bad, he could actually tell them apart! Well, that and the fact that First Aid was very eager to make sure the Starscream understood what was going on. The Seeker obligingly looked towards the tools and equipment, bobbing his head, and just listening. Humm... 'Why not scared of me?' he asked, so far they hadn't seemed scared of him. Of course, he was fairly helpless right now.

First Aid found it easier to talk to Starscream than he had thought it would be and said as much, not entirely understanding the question. The feeling was possibly only there because the Seeker wasn't interrupting like most mechs did, or sneering at him, but details like that weren't important. He set down the recalibrating device and was about to pick up the next tool in line when Ratchet came back.

It amused Ratchet to no end that Starscream was allowing, even encouraging First Aid to talk to him, even though he couldn't see the items being waved around. In an odd, roundabout sort of way, it reminded him of a youngling showing off his newest toy to all his friends, and boy did THAT image make him want to snicker himself into deactivation. "All right, enough playing around, let's get to work," he said as he moved to lay Starscream down again.

He stuck his glossa out at Ratchet but lay down obediently, optics on the blurs of the two medics. 'Tell me what you're doing?' he scrawled before Ratchet could take the pad, shoving the missive at First Aid, since the red mech seemed more willing to jabber. It wasn't that he was afraid of what they would do, he just... wanted to know. And it was fun listening to First Aid, he was so eager.

First Aid was surprised when the Seeker shoved the datapad at him but read it anyway before nodding. "Certainly, Starscream," he replied. It would help him memorize the procedure anyway, so why not? The Seeker seemed content with his acquiescence, settling back. He briefly wondered why Starscream seemed to be hiding the datapad from Ratchet, but didn't question his motives.

Ratchet would have rolled his optics if he could at Starscream's behavior. But at least it would keep him distracted long enough to get through the operation, Ratchet thought as he turned the Seeker's head toward himself so he could access the panels protecting the optical data section of his processor. He numbed Starscream's cranial sensory grid and motioned for the first tool. They set to work, Ratchet lecturing First Aid on the proper procedure and First Aid telling Starscream what they were going to do next, and in no time at all morning passed into afternoon and, as Ratchet had predicted, the operation and recalibration processes took much less time than they would have if Starscream had been offline. Once they were finished, the CMO passed the recalibrating device back to his student and reactivated Starscream's sensory grid and closed his helm, securing the panels in place with a definitive 'snap!' and a light pat. "All done," he said. "How's it look?"

Okay, that had just felt ODD, having basically his entire head numb. But the two medics had been very nice about talking, and if Starscream had been at all interested in mech systems, he probably would have learned quite a lot. As it was, he wasn't interested, and was rather distracted by both mechs randomly petting him. His vision had sharpened steadily, aside from the few times that First Aid did something rather badly wrong and fragged up the entire set of variables he was imputing. When they were done, Starscream could honestly see things in much sharper detail than he'd had available for... a very long time. Smiling at Ratchet, Starscream gave the human thumbs up gesture before staring at his digits and hiding his face in his hands.

Ratchet smiled back while First Aid tried to stifle his giggles. "Good." He pet the Seeker once and moved around the berth to help First Aid clean the tools they'd used. Now that Starscream's optics were repaired, he could find something to suitably distract the flier from his wingless state, as the promise he'd made would only hold for so long before Starscream started getting antsy. He'd send First Aid over to Wheeljack's once he got back from talking to Optimus to see how those were coming along, now that he was thinking about it. And speaking of seeing Optimus… "First Aid, I'm going to need you to stay with Starscream while I go talk to Prime," he said, and as an afterthought, turned to Starscream. "If you don't mind having him around while I'm away?"

Grabbing the datapad, Starscream was quite happy that his handwriting would be legible and NEAT this time around, and so he didn't really have to worry about the length. 'No, I don't mind. We'll have fun, he can play with me!' Realizing what he'd written, Starscream tried to strike that last sentence out. 'I want the full story when you're back, Ratchy!' He gave up at that point and handed the message to Ratchet, head ducked.

The medic read the message with a smirk. Playing, huh? What would they play, he wondered. Tic-Tac-Toe? And 'Ratchy'? "Good. And don't worry, I'll tell you all about it," he promised, petting the jet. He turned back to First Aid. "It's about time for refueling so why don't you just scoot along to my office and get the two of you some energon and I'll be back within a quarter of a joor," he said, making shooing motions to his student. The Protectobot nodded and went to do as told. Once he was out of sight, Ratchet turned back to Starscream. "Behave yourself while I'm gone, got it?"

Oh, yes, because he could do oh so much like this. He could barely even MOVE, what did Ratchet THINK he would do? Starscream didn't bother trying to complain, though, just nodding. He wouldn't give First Aid any trouble. Ratchet seemed satisfied, leaving, and Starscream looked at First Aid curiously. He was carrying energon... Oh, that was a good idea! He waved at the red medic... medic-trainee, and waited to see what he'd do. Ratchet wouldn't have left him with someone dangerous, after all.

First Aid sighed a little as he watched his mentor leave. Of course it was important that the older medic see Prime about Starscream's unexpected… visit, and although Starscream had been nothing but kind so far, he still couldn't fully shake the urge to call in his brothers in case Starscream tried anything. Pushing his unease at being alone with the Seeker aside, he waved back, careful not to spill the cube in his hand. He slipped around the berth and set the cubes down before adjusting the position of the berth. "Hungry?" he asked once he was done, picking up one of the cubes and holding it out for the flier to take.

Starscream grinned and nodded, reaching for the cube since it seemed First Aid didn't want to feed him. He stopped before taking the cube, realizing he was probably too weak... With another grin, the Seeker took the cube with both hands, very pleased with himself when he managed to not spill this time. Looking at the energon, Starscream lowered it until he could bend over it and then started lapping the liquid up. His glossa was too thin for it to really work, but he was having fun and not really making a mess, so he hoped First Aid would let him continue.

Fingers paused on the latches of his facemask, First Aid couldn't do anything but stare as Starscream bent over his cube and proceeded to lap up the liquid like some sort of earth feline. In a momentary bout of insanity, he wondered if that was how Decepticons usually took their energon before dismissing the thought as just too ridiculous to be true. He detached his mask and picked up his own cube, taking a drink and leaning back on the berth, leaving Starscream to play with his energon as he pleased. Once he was finished, he sat on the berth next to the Seeker's and waited for the other to finish.

He was less than a quarter of the way through his cube when he realized First Aid had finished. He looked up at the red medic, who didn't seem impatient, but still... Starscream finished the rest of his energon in a couple of gulps, never quite meeting the other mech's optics. 'I don't know, okay? I woke up in your med bay and I keep acting like more and more of a sparkling, and right now I just want to PLAY and I'm bored, play with me, please, 'Aid?' Neat script devolved into an untidy scrawl, but Starscream didn't feel like correcting it, and shoved the pad towards First Aid, still not looking at him.

The content of the message surprised him, but he nodded in acceptance. "We can play something, if you like. There isn't much we can do with you still recovering though…" First Aid trailed off, wracking his processor for any games they could do that didn't involve moving. "We could play Tic-Tac-Toe, or we could draw pictures and try to guess what the other drew, or… I don't know, what would you like to play?"

Tic-Tac-Toe was a stupid human game that, properly done, never had a winner. Why would he want to play that? Drawing, though... well, he wasn't that good at drawing, but he wasn't horrible at it. It was better than other games he could think of, most of which were more stupid human games, and it wasn't like they had any figurines to play armies wi... Starscream bashed the back of his head into the berth, careful enough to not actually hurt himself. This was beyond ridiculous, he was wanting to play DOLLS with an AUTOBOT? He went first, since First Aid had handed him the datapad, drawing Thundercracker and Skywarp playing in some alley on Cybertron. Had they been playing, or... Eh, it didn't matter.

First Aid peered at the picture. He could make out… He glanced at Starscream. Even without the wings, he could see the similarities in the frames, so the two on the datapad… "Your trine mates?" he guessed. "Doing… What ARE they doing?" It was truly perplexing. The way they were positioned, it was hard to tell if they were fooling around or, um, molesting each other.

'Playing. I think they were playing. Innocently, even. 'Warp might do something like that, but TC wouldn't, not where he could be seen.' He added arrows pointing from the names to the mech he was talking about, and realized that the Skywarp figure had indeed been the one pinning Thundercracker to the building wall. Starscream hid his face in his hands again.

"O-oh," The medic-in-training mumbled, looking away. If 'Warp (he figured that was short for Skywarp) was the one doing the pinning, then they probably were doing something inappropriate. He took the datapad and quickly cleared it so he could make his own picture. After a moment's contemplation, he drew a picture of Groove and Beachcomber making, or attempting to make, daisy chains and handed the pad back.

He shouldn't be that embarrassed. He was a SEEKER, Seekers DID that with each other. Slag, everyone did that! That didn't change the fact that Starscream was happy that First Aid more or less ignored the situation and moved on. Starscream started labeling the new picture, 'Chain' and... hum. 'Mech 1' and 'Femme!' Smirking, he added, 'Playing same game TC and 'Warp were! And why am I acting like this?'

First Aid made a squeaking sound when he read the captions Starscream provided for his once innocent piece of art. "W-well, you're right about the chain, at least," he mumbled, eying the 'Femme!' of his picture, Groove, and wondered how his brother would feel about being labeled as such. "And, um, maybe it's an after-effect of your recent repairs? Somehow?" He was just guessing on that, but it made as much sense as anything else. He handed the datapad back after clearing it so Starscream could draw something else. Hopefully not something with the Seeker's trine mates and/or any alleys.

Starscream's shoulders shook in silent laughter and he made a mental note to tease First Aid more. He was so cutely naïve it was almost unbearable. Humm... the Seeker's next picture was something he was SURE the Autobot would never expect from him. It was an Earth scene, a park seen from the air, with human families playing. The focus of the picture was a kid, just running, with his dog on a leash next to him. They'd flown over the scene on their way to some attack or the other, Starscream didn't remember which, but it had been miles away from where they'd seen this.

That… Wasn't what he had expected. Not that he was sure what he HAD expected, but it wasn't this. The picture was peaceful and – his optics roved over the picture, checking to make sure there weren't, like, couples doing indecent things in the corners or anything, because who knew what was going through Starscream's mind – innocent. It looked like a park and there were humans everywhere. "A park," he said as he took in all the content little human figures. "It must be amazing, being able to see everything like this from the sky," he murmured. Blades could fly, but it was probably different to experience it for yourself than to feel the echoes of someone else's flight. Especially with the maneuverability a jet had…

The Seeker looked down and shrugged a little. It... WAS amazing, really it was, and he never had forgotten that. But he couldn't exactly do anything for First Aid, couldn't really let him know what it was like, so why make a deal of it. Reaching his hand over the picture, he rubbed his fingers over the dog. That's right... it had been the first time he'd seen a human playing with one of their pets, though it had taken him a while to work out what it had been... Starscream was still fighting off an urge to giggle for no real reason he could work out.

First Aid cleared the picture after Starscream retracted his hand, wondering what he should draw next, and then grinned a little at a recent memory. He drew the image as he remembered it. When he finished, Swoop was on one side of the picture in his alt, beak open wide and wings tucked in tight as he dove for a ball and Slag was on the other, running as fast as the four legs of his own alt would let him. The trainee couldn't remember what sporting event they were attempting to reenact, but he did remember Eject and Rewind's cheers as Swoop snagged the ball in his beak. Their dancing had been… memorable. "There," he said triumphantly as he showed the Seeker his picture.

Frowning at the picture for a moment, Starscream brightened as names came to him. They were both Dinobots... the flier was 'Swoop', wasn't a bad flier, even if he did spend too much time on the ground. The other... 'Um... frag? Scrap? ...Three-horned fire-breathing thing that any mech with half a processor runs away from.' That was what everyone THOUGHT of that one, anyway. 'Who won?'

First Aid couldn't help the chuckle that escaped him at Starscream's description of Slag. "It's Slag," he corrected. "And I'm not sure who won. From all the dancing and celebrating and, uh… what did they call them…? Oh, victory laps! that Swoop and his team did, I think they won." He checked the time and hummed. "Ratchet's going to be back soon," he informed the Seeker. "It's been a little over one earth hour since he left."

Clearing the datapad, Starscream shrugged. 'Frag, Slag, same difference. I should have known the flier won... never should have doubted.' Tapping the stylus against his dermaplating, the Seeker considered the other comment. 'Ratchy's going to be in a right temper, isn't he? I'll try not to be afraid of him, and know he's not angry at me, isn't going to hurt me...' His script, fairly neat while they played, once again turned more scrawled, as though the writer didn't quite know how to handle a stylus.

The smugness in Starscream's first comment was almost palpable and it made First Aid laugh. He stopped, however, at the expression on the Seeker's face as he brought the pad back to himself and continued to write, insufferable smugness giving way to an expression that First Aid couldn't quite place. Troubled was the closest thing he could think of to compare to what he was seeing, but it wasn't just the look on Starscream's face that changed. The flier's entire form seemed to slump and curl in on itself, and when the pad was pushed back toward him, he could barely read the end of the newest sentences, as though Starscream was forgetting how to write as he went instead of the other way around. The sudden change in demeanor put the medic-in-training on edge, and it was only made worse once he managed to make out the words. He stood up and moved to sit beside Starscream, placing a hand on the jet's arm. "He might be a little mad when he gets back, but he won't direct it at you," he said softly. "You've got nothing to worry about, okay?" Soothing. Soothing was good, it helped patients calm down. Starscream was getting upset, so he would soothe him until Ratchet came back and let him know that everything was okay and he didn't have anything to fear at all.

He bit as his glossa, looking up at First Aid. Logically he knew the trainee was being truthful, logically Starscream knew there was no reason for Ratchet to take his anger out on him. But then, reason and logic had never stopped Megatron... Tugging on the red mech, Starscream tried to get First Aid to lay on top of him, he wanted to feel the pressure, like a nice, safe blanket. Ratchet wouldn't hurt him... wouldn't... A bubble of humor cut through the slowly growing panic, Ratchet wouldn't make more work for himself!

Unsure of what to do, he allowed himself to be pulled down until he was half sprawled atop the jet. And then, for absolutely no reason whatsoever, Starscream started chuckling. The more the Seeker persisted in his bi-polar behavior, the more worried First Aid became, and he hoped Ratchet would come back soon because he didn't really know how to treat a hysterically, or insanely, laughing person. But that didn't stop him from attempting to calm the hysterical jet, rubbing his hands over the other's shoulder vent and helm like he'd seen Ratchet do during the operation earlier.

Ratchet stormed down the hall, grumbling incoherently to himself. Stupid, fragging pompous, glitched Prime thought he could boss RATCHET around, did he? Ha! He'd shown him… Gotten kept a little longer than he'd planned because Optimus decided to call Prowl in, but he was out now, and getting his way. He rounded the corner and walked into the med bay, mouth open to say something, but when he saw First Aid sprawled over Starscream, his processor went blank. Finally he got a hold on himself and stomped in. "First Aid, what ARE you doing?"

Red optics managed to meet Ratchet's blue over First Aid's shoulder, and then Starscream used his thrusters to sound the keening whine that his vocalizer would no longer give and buried his face in First Aid's neck. Ratchet might not be angry with HIM, but Starscream wasn't about to give up his mech blanket-slash-shield. Oh no, he wasn't giving up what made him feel safe. Far from it, and the Seeker's grip on the trainee grew tighter as he pressed harder into the red form.

When he asked for Ratchet to show up, First Aid didn't mean while he was LAYING ON TOP OF STARSCREAM. He groaned in mortification as Starscream's face pressed against his neck and arms pinned him to the Seeker's body, wondering if it was possible to die of embarrassment. He sort of hoped so as he answered his mentor with a small, "Nothing," and pressed his face against Starscream's shoulder vent. He could only imagine how wrong this looked to Ratchet.

Ratchet frowned and leaned over the two of them. He eyed them for a moment and decided that Starscream was the core of the problem. The position was quite a bit like one he had just recently been in, anyway. "Starscream," he said calmly. "I don't know what's going on here, but you need to let go of First Aid."

It was more or less impossible to tilt his head, but that didn't stop Starscream from considering Ratchet's words. Peaking over First Aid's shoulder again, Starscream decided that Ratchet wasn't quite so scary and angry any more, and it would be safe enough to let go of his shield. He'd miss the blanket part, though... Looking balefully at the medic, Starscream slowly did as ordered, giving a soundless mewl as First Aid took the first chance to stand. The Seeker made sure that Ratchet knew JUST how he felt about the loss of his blanket, catching his lower lip between denta and looking as pathetic and helpless as he knew how.

First Aid pulled back as soon as the Seeker's grip loosened but the look he caught the mech giving Ratchet made him want to hug Starscream just to make it stop. He managed to contain himself, though. Who knew if Starscream would release him again? He looked at Ratchet sheepishly as he moved out of the way, mumbling about the datapad and how he really hadn't been doing anything untoward.

Ratchet gave his student a pat on the shoulder as he went by and searched out the datapad, ignoring the 'kicked puppy' look Starscream was giving him. The mech would survive without molesting First Aid. The medic's optics alighted on the datapad and he scooped it up, scanning the contents. What he read made his expression soften. He looked back at his patient, who was still pouting at him in the most adorable fashion, and smiled. "You thought I'd be angry at you when you didn't do anything wrong?"

Ratchet's smile made Starscream stop pouting. It was just too pretty of a smile for him to not meet it with one of his own. He shook his head slowly, but then shrugged, and then finally pointed at the pad and motioning for Ratchet to give it back. There was just no way to explain himself without words. The medic seemed to realize this, handing the datapad over already cleared. 'You wouldn't be angry at me, but that... doesn't always stop people. If you can't take it out on the person you're angry with, some people just hit whomever they can... don't care who, or why...' Ratchet should know that, of course, but it was important that he knew Starscream knew it. The Seeker couldn't quite remember how he knew it was important, but... it was.

Ratchet took the pad again once Starscream finished writing and read the words, noting that the flier's writing started out clear and precise and gradually got messier until it was nearly illegible. He had to read words twice more before their meaning clicked and he was almost positive that Starscream was referring to Megatron. "Well, I promise I won't hit you unless you make me really angry," he said, handing the datapad back. Curiosity got the better of him and he sat down by the Seeker's hip, an action he was becoming accustomed to doing. "Starscream, what's wrong with your handwriting?"

Starscream shrugged, leaning against Ratchet as much as he could. It was odd, he barely even noticed his missing wings at times... he should mention that. 'I don't know. It's not... just when I'm scared, I did it earlier. What, think I haven't noticed what's going on with me? I'm acting... flighty, I'm PLAYING, I... 'Aid tell you how I tried to fuel after you left? I'm not acting myself, I'm emotional, I'm not even missing my wings, and I know it's not like me and I don't even care... and I'm SNUGGLING. I wanna blankie...'

Ratchet pet the Seeker absently as he read, processor whirring, going through every condition he could think of to find one that fit Starscream's symptoms. A Seeker not caring about getting his wings back, not caring that he couldn't FLY? The thought was unthinkable, and yet he'd thought it. But what could do that to a mech? He couldn't recall anything like it ever happening before, and that bothered him. Maybe Starscream's processors were scrambled? He'd have to run a deep scan tomorrow when they fixed the Seeker's vocalizer. "And how did you try to fuel yourself?" he asked, pushing his worries for Starscream's mental health to the bottom of his priority list. He wasn't prepared to do any more scans today, so it didn't do him any good to think about it while he conversed with Starscream. He could get the 'blankie' later, though, although he wasn't sure why Starscream would want it. Fully developed Transformers didn't need external coverings like that.

A huge smile showed on the Seeker's face. 'I tried licking it up like Ravage does!' Starscream explained happily. 'But I'm not very good at it, and had to finish normally so I could play with 'Aid! We played a guessing game, but I don't know your side very well, and didn't know that the fire-breathing monster is named Slag, so I think I lost, but I drew a park and a kid and a dog and I think 'Aid would like to fly but I can't help him with that and- WHY am I acting like this?' He didn't really MIND how he was acting, but... he wanted to know it wasn't a bad thing.

A smile spread over Ratchet's face at Starscream's exuberant retelling of his day, and he couldn't help chuckling at various points. "The 'fire-breathing monster', huh?" he teased, handing the pad back. "I'm not sure what's causing you to act the way you do, but if there was a malicious code in your hard drive, my scans from before would have picked it up, so it's most likely harmless." Ratchet HOPED it was, anyway. "I'd like to do a deep scan on your processors tomorrow though, just to be sure."

Well... that was good, at least. 'Didn't really think it was code, no-one uplinked before staking me out there... go ahead and do your scans.' Starscream let Ratchet read that message, then poked him and grabbed the datapad back. 'Your turn! How'd it go with Opty, did he yell a lot, did you yell, you promised to tell me, so tell!' Handing the pad back involved more poking and a poorly hidden smirk on Starscream's derma.

Ratchet hardly had time to read the first message before the datapad was being snatched back out of his hands (and he was pleased to note that Starscream seemed a bit more mobile, that meant his automatic repair systems were doing their job), and the pokes he received were irritating on a very minor level so he just ignored them, although he was tempted to poke back when he saw the smirk Starscream was trying to hide. He read the second message and groaned at the reminder of his time with Optimus. "Oh Primus," he grumbled, handing the pad back in case Starscream had more questions. "Yes, he yelled a lot, yes, I yelled a lot, we yelled some more, he called Prowl in and we all yelled a lot more, and I won," he said, just because he knew Starscream wanted all the 'juicy details' and wanted to irritate the Seeker.

'Uh-uh! You PROMISED, Ratchy. You said you'd tell me ALL about it! Tell me, tell me, tell me!' Starscream insisted, taking barely enough time to ensure his message would be legible. He handed the pad back, gave Ratchet a few moments to read it, and then started poking him more when the medic didn't start talking soon enough for his tastes. He wasn't going to let Ratchet get away with something as easy as what he'd already given, after all! He'd promised!

Ratchet laughed, able to hear in his mind, the whiny, insistent tones Starscream might have used if he could speak and batted away the poking fingers. "Alright, alright! I'll tell you, you pesky thing!" he said, setting the datapad within Starscream's reach. "It wasn't all that exciting, really. I went down to Prime's office, we talked a bit, he told me that now that you were out of critical condition I had to let them put you in the brig between the times I was working on you, I refused, he demanded an explanation, I told him that you weren't a prisoner and I wouldn't allow you to be treated that way, he said that it all could have been a ploy to get you into the base, we went on like that for some time until I explained, quite loudly, the extent of your injuries and the way you had been abandoned, and he started to calm down." Ratchet paused to get the next part in order and then continued. "Prime asked that I at least get a guard to watch over you, and I refused that too because I didn't need some gun-toting fool to harass you while my back was turned, we yelled some more about how stupid the other was and then he called in Prowl who tried to use his tactical mumbo-jumbo on me like I haven't got a working logic circuit in my body, so I yelled at him too, and Prime eventually conceded that I knew what I was doing, and so long as you don't do anything to falsify my claims of your innocence while you're being repaired and such, you'll be free to go once I'm done with you." And man was that a mouthful.

He would have put up with being in the brig, if he had to, but Starscream was very glad that Ratchet had stood up for him. It was just no FUN in the brig, there was nothing to play with... Starscream cycled his vents at his thoughts, but had mostly given up on controlling them. 'I've been harassed by the whole gestalt of Hook's team. I kno... Should know how to behave... but lately... Is very annoying, you know! I'm not supposed to act like this! But I won't... sabotauge anything, I'll try to behave... don't know where I'll go... whatever, not important now. What are we doing tomorrow?' It was good news, what Ratchet told him, but Starscream wasn't even surprised that he couldn't seem to focus on it.

The medic found it easy to believe Starscream. He wasn't acting like himself, but he seemed genuine enough. And he seemed far more interested in playing with First Aid than anything. "We're going to be replacing your vocalizer tomorrow," he said. "And Wheeljack will probably be by to discuss your wings with you, but other than that, nothing much." The mention of Wheeljack triggered his memory and he raised his voice so First Aid could hear him. "'Aid, I need you to run over to 'Jack's and ask him how those wings are coming, please." First Aid's nonchalant consent was betrayed by his nervous smile when he came back over to get his facemask before he left. Ratchet had to choke down his chuckles at how innocent his apprentice was sometimes, but only long enough for the mech to get out the door

'He didn't like the game TC and 'Warp were playing,' Starscream informed Ratchet, re-drawing that picture, or at least an approximation. He KNEW it was a stupid thing to do, but... he just so badly wanted to see how Ratchet would react. 'Can I hear what the voc. sounds like first? Or stuck with what you give?' It might be fun to have a choice, but Starscream was still aware enough to realize it might be a lot safer to leave the choice in Ratchet's hands. 'Ooooh! Can I visit fliers later?' And there he went changing subjects like Skywarp on an energon-high.

"The game… oh. Oh. Playing, were they?" Ratchet inquired, voice somewhat strangled. "Well… well, I imagine they had fun, so I guess it, um, was a game, in a way." Well slag, if this was what Starscream was subjecting 'Aid to, no wonder the poor youngling was so flustered. Ignoring the picture, he read the rest of what the Seeker had written. "Once we replace the connectors, it'll be no problem to snap a vocalizer in and adjust it to your liking. It's just time consuming. And I'll talk to Silverbolt and see if he'll be all right with having you around for a little while." That last request would be a bit more difficult, but Silverbolt was rather forgiving and even though they didn't idolize the Seekers anymore, Ratchet knew that they were still fascinated by them.

Starscream was shaking with laughter, and rather impressed with how well Ratchet handled the situation, really. 'Really? Never knew voc's could be adjusted... well, Hook wouldn't anyway.' He grinned up at Ratchet before putting his face in his hand again. 'And I really just want to curl up under a blanket or with another mech and recharge, and I'm not even cold! It's okay if Silverbolt doesn't want me hanging around.'

"You didn't think they were all custom-built, did you? It just takes a bit of tweaking to make a permanent change in the sound of someone's voice," the medic informed Starscream. The request for a blanket was odd but easily done and once he'd settled back by the Seeker's side, he couldn't help but notice how cute the mech looked tucked under a blanket. "And don't worry yourself over Silverbolt. I don't think he'll be inclined to refuse after I talk to him."

He'd never considered where vocalizers came from, really. It had never been important before, and even if he'd thought about it, Starscream wouldn't have changed his voice. It was HIS voice... he might change it just a little now, though. A little less screechy, maybe, something that could be... well, respected? Pulling a part of the blanket a little closer around his shoulder, Starscream actually found it in him to enjoy curling up on his side with nothing in the way. He'd felt like this before, he thought... a long time ago, and not for very long... ugh, sun and sand must have glitched him worse than he'd thought.

Ratchet watched Starscream snuggle under the blanket for a moment and reached over to pet the Seeker's helm. "Go ahead and get some recharge," he murmured. Starscream gave a small nod and offlined his optics and was in recharge within moments. Once he was sure he wouldn't disturb the mech's rest, Ratchet pulled Starscream's stylus and datapad out from under the blanket and set them on the table before getting up to go get some paperwork done. The sound of the main doors opening caught his attention as he was headed toward his office and he was relieved to see it was just First Aid. He made silent motions toward Starscream and then into his office before the Protectobot could say anything and stepped inside. First Aid wasn't long in joining him, and after they situated themselves in the office, Ratchet asked what Wheeljack had said.

First Aid was surprised to see Starscream curled up in recharge, but he didn't waste time staring. He needed to give Ratchet Wheeljack's report and then talk to him about the stuff he'd read earlier concerning Starscream's peculiar actions. The discussion of Starscream's new wings was short and to the point. The wings were giving Wheeljack a little trouble, but nothing he couldn't sort out, so Starscream's wings would be ready for reattachment within two earth days. After a breem or so of silence, First Aid pulled a datapad from subspace containing the notes he'd taken earlier. "Erm, Ratchet… I was looking up what could be wrong with Starscream, you know, his personality and stuff? I found something that might explain it…" he said, handing the pad over. "He's been acting like those earth children I've seen sometimes, and he DID endure a lot of traumatic experiences, so I thought it might be possible that his programming reverted to the sparkling stages to protect him…" he trailed off nervously. He watched apprehensively as Ratchet scanned its contents and was surprised when the older medic turned to his terminal and began looking up things. After a while of Ratchet not saying anything, he made a grinding noise in his throat. "Ratchet?"

Ratchet tilted his head slightly in First Aid's direction and made a sound of acknowledgement. When the Protectobot didn't say anything else, he looked back over. "I was just looking for myself. It would make sense, all things considered. The way he's acting, the way he views everything… even little things like the change in his writing, and… The blanket! Now I remember why it seemed so strange that he would ask for one! Only sparklings need them, to regulate their internal temperature!" the CMO exclaimed, surprised. He shook his head. "But let's not get ahead of ourselves. We'll do the scan tomorrow and see what that turns up. If it is, though… Well, that'll certainly show Optimus and his 'I don't care if you're the medic, I still make the rules' attitude," he grumbled. At First Aid's confused hum, he waved a hand dismissively. "Nothing, 'Aid. We'll talk about it tomorrow. Go spend some time with your brothers, I've got some work to get done."

First Aid was confused, but pleased that he seemed to have done well. With a nod, he stood up and bade his mentor a good evening, which was mimicked back to him, before leaving the med bay. On his way out, he looked at Starscream again, and wondered at how adorable he looked like that. Nothing like the fearsome Decepticon Air Commander he recalled seeing on the battlefield. He was… adorable. He smiled behind his facemask and left the med bay.

----

Starscream woke up and stretched, catching the blanket before it fell without a thought. He felt very good... The Seeker stood up slowly, wrapping the cloth about him like a cape. He was still a little sore, and his balance was badly off without his wings, but he could stand, and it felt better to walk around, move a little. Starscream did hope Ratchet wouldn't mind, wouldn't be angry at him... biting as his derma, the Seeker reminded himself that he was safe here, Ratchet wasn't going to hurt him. What was going to happen today... Oh, right! They were going to scan him and he would get his voice back! And maybe First Aid would tell him all about what they were doing again... maybe he could even watch somehow, that would be fun!

Huh… that was odd. There shouldn't be anyone moving around in the med bay… Oh! Ratchet all but fell off his berth in his haste to get to the door of his office, but froze in surprise at the sight of Starscream wandering around the med bay with his blanket draped over his shoulders. Well if that wasn't just the slagging cutest thing he'd seen in vorns… And the Seeker was moving of his own volition. That was a very good sign. Most mechs' systems took a while to adapt to such extensive repairs, and yet Starscream was up and moving, albeit slowly, less than two days after the bulk of his repairs were finished. Impressive, to say the least. The medic stepped out of his office and made a wordless noise to get Starscream's attention. "Good morning, Starscream. Did you recharge well?"

He looked up and nodded before bouncing his way over to the medic, grabbing the datapad and stylus on his way. Starscream hesitated just a moment, but ultimately wrapped Ratchet in a hug, grinning at him all the while. He waited long enough for Ratchet to return the gesture, and then started babbling away at him on the datapad. 'Yep, I recharged really well, nice and warm, and you're gonna make me able to talk today, right? Is First Aid gonna help, will he tell me what's going on, I thought it might be fun to watch, but I'm not sure, it might be kinda gross, what do you think, and can you PLEASE tell me why I'm acting like this, it's really weird and annoying.'

The medic smiled at the other's inquisitiveness and tried to reply to everything. "I'm glad you had a pleasant recharge. Yes, you'll hopefully be able to talk again today. First Aid will be here to assist and will undoubtedly talk you through the entire procedure… You want to watch? It would be educational, I suppose, but not particularly pretty. It definitely wouldn't win any beauty prizes," he said with a chuckle, patting the Seeker's shoulder. "I'm sure we could rig something up if you REALLY want to watch, though. And as for your recent personality changes… Well, First Aid and I have a theory. We think that, due to the severe physical and mental trauma you endured, your core programming is resetting itself to the very first stages of your development as a defense measure," he said. "All of the symptoms you've shown so far point to it. The glitch itself is harmless and will correct itself with time."

Starscream twisted back and forth a little, thinking. 'Yeah... wanna watch. I'll look away if I don't like it.' With that decided, he wandered back over to his berth, a little tired and needing to think things over a little. 'So I'm... acting like a sparkling?' It made sense... he thought... 'I've never been... what's gonna happen to me? Everyone's going to be angry with me, and I'll KNOW things, but ACT, and...' Starscream forcibly stopped himself, putting down the datapad, and wrapping himself in the blanket. He didn't MIND acting like this, now that he knew WHY he was behaving in such a silly manner... and Ratchet didn't seem to mind either. Neither did First Aid...

"Okay, I'll put something together so you can watch," Ratchet said, following the Seeker back to his berth. "And… Well, you'll go through your younglinghood like you would if you didn't get the adult programming. But at a much faster rate than usual, according to the few recorded instances of this particular glitch that I found in the database." He frowned. "No one's going to be angry with you. This isn't your fault." He placed a hand on the Seeker's head and leaned over to press his forehead against Starscream's. "Besides, you're absolutely adorable, anyone would have to be out of their CPU to be angry at you."

The Seeker was caught between pouting again and grinning. He knew how he felt some times when Skywarp pulled his pouty face sometimes, and Ratchet had just more or less said that he'd be able to use one of his OWN now! The grin started to win, and with a quick move he kissed Ratchet's nose and grabbed the datapad. 'You'll tell them what happened? So I can play and have fun and they won't be mad and I can have fun and act like I want to and I won't do anything bad and I'll TRY to stay out of places I shouldn't go and I'll have lots of friends and play? And... and HE'LL think I'm dead and won't try to hurt me and I'll be safe? And you can paint me different colors so I don't look the same and I won't sound the same, but I like my name so I kinda want to keep that and I'm gonna drive you all nuts once I can talk...'

Ratchet stared at his nose in confusion. 'Wasn't expecting THAT,' he thought bemusedly. He was brought back to the present a moment later when Starscream's datapad was pushed toward him. The CMO picked it up and had to read it twice before he understood what was written, and he nodded. "The others will know, and I'm sure they'd be delighted to play with you," he assured the Seeker, sitting down. "And you'll be safe." The medic laughed and replied to the last of Starscream's words. "If it's any consolation, I'm sure you and Bluestreak will get along famously. I adore the youngling, but he could talk a mech to deactivation if they let him go long enough."

Starscream pulled away and looked at Ratchet in shock, mouth moving a couple of times before he remembered he had to write his questions. 'You mean there's other younglings here? Just, I mean, 'Warp or the cassettes are the closest we have to younglings, and yeah, and... but I'll still be weird, since, I mean, yeah, I should stop babbling and let you fuel and whatever.' Bluestreak... the name seemed familiar, but Starscream couldn't place it right now, too distracted by other things.

"Technically, Blue's fully grown, but barely. He still ACTS like a youngling sometimes," Ratchet replied. "I suppose I should get our fuel, now that you mention it. First Aid will be here soon and he'll want to get started right away. This'll be his first full vocalizer transfer and he's very excited," the medic confided with an affectionate smile as he stood up to get their energon. Once he returned, he set Starscream's berth into the semi-upright position in case the Seeker wanted to lay back and handed him his cube.

'Ooh, so I'm making him happy? Not that he HAS to do it, of course, or why, but that he gets a chance, that's nice, and he'll be happy to tell me about it!' Starscream wrote while Ratchet was getting the energon, handing the pad over and then resisting the urge to try lapping at the fluid again. He could do that later, but right now he just had to fuel fast, since First Aid would be coming soon. Starscream barely remembered in time NOT to gulp his energon, since that would get him overenergized that THAT would slow them down even worse than taking a little longer drinking. Not that it wouldn't be fun to get overenergized like that some time... oh, that would be VERY fun! Grinning and trying not to squirm in his seat, Starscream drank the energon and waited for First Aid.

Ratchet smiled again and pat the Seeker's knee and said, "He rather likes you, you know. He doesn't often get patients that want to know what's going on, but he enjoys teaching." He drank his energon quietly, watching Starscream try sit still and be patient. The jet was still engulfed in his blanket and all the cartoonified flying fish (really, where HAD the humans gotten that design?) that surrounded him made for a very ridiculous, if amusing, picture.

First Aid walked into the med bay, for once not rushing because his brothers had all left too early to hold him up for last-minute see-you-laters and we're-still-playing-that-new-game-when-you-get-off-shift-rights and whatever else they could think up. When he caught sight of Ratchet and Starscream already up, he smiled behind his facemask and went over to them. "Good morning," he said cheerfully, noting Starscream's giddy smile and anxious movements, as though he were excited about something.

Waving, Starscream didn't waste any time in writing out a message for First Aid. 'Hi! Ratchet tells me you're looking forward to this, so you'll tell me everything about it, right, and he said he'll set up a way for me to watch, because I think it will be fun to see it even if it might be gross and he explained why I'm acting like a sparkling and so that's okay and I think I'm having fun and I'd really rather talk to you than write because then I could watch you and I'd be faster and my hand wouldn't cramp, though your audios might get tired.' Looking back over his message, the Seeker looked embarrassed, but handed it over anyway, hitching the blanket around his shoulders a little firmer.

First Aid obligingly took the pad and laughed at how excitable the mech was right now. "Yes, I've been looking forward to it, and I'll tell you all about it! Ratchet'll have to help though," he said, glancing at Ratchet, who nodded agreeably in return. "I'm glad Ratchet told you about it, although I gotta admit that I thought you'd be a bit upset about it. And I can't wait until we can talk to each other without this pad, although it has been fun communicating this way."

While the two younglings talked, Ratchet got up to see if he could find something reflective to set up so Starscream could watch them operate on him. He found a suitably sized mirror in the storage room and pulled it, along with some poles out of the room and moved over to a spare operating table to assemble the pieces. Within moments Ratchet had an adjustable mirror with stand and he gave himself a mental pat on the back at his own talent. He carried the metal monstrosity over to Starscream's berth and set it down with a loud 'thunk!', startling the other mechs.

'You just like my pictu-' Starscream's message ended abruptly as he jumped and looked at Ratchet with wide optics. He pouted at the full medic to let him know he did NOT appreciate being startled like that, and then handed the pad to First Aid with a grin that was entirely too sly to be innocent. Looking at what Ratchet was presenting as proud as the Seeker ever was when showing off, Starscream... well, he looked, and then hesitantly poked at it. It didn't seem like it would fall apart on him... and it DID reflect. Starscream finally decided he approved, nodding at Ratchet.

First Aid jumped with a yelp and stared at the whatever-it-was for an astrosecond before he realized that it was what Starscream would be using to see what they did to his vocalizer. As he took the image in, he felt something nudge against his hand and, without thinking about it, he took the pad Starscream was handing to him and read it. Instantly, the medic-in-training felt mortification spread through his frame like a physical force and handed the pad back before he did something embarrassing like stutter. He caught the devious grin on the flier's face and the embarrassment increased three-fold and he fidgeted nervously. Shifting from one pede to the other, he spoke to Ratchet. "It's very, um, lovely."

Ratchet didn't much care for the skeptical looks the two gave his creation, but he figured he could forgive them once Starscream approved. "Yes it is," he replied to First Aid's comment, scooting the device closer and adjusting it. "Go get cleaned up now, while I get everything set up."

He realized suddenly that this was going to be a rather messy operation, and decided that he didn't want his blanket to get dirty. Removing the blanket, Starscream shivered a little and checked his body temperature, not really surprised to find that it really was perfectly normal. Wanting the blanket was probably just a psychological thing then, part of the glitch. Still, he folded it up carefully and neatly before handing it to Ratchet. He tried to watch what both other mechs were doing without making a nuisance of himself, and Ratchet never growled at him, so Starscream decided he'd done well as he finally lay back.

----

By the end of the week, the installation of Starscream's new vocalizer and wings were both complete with little difficulty, for which Ratchet was very grateful. Unfortunately, that also meant that now the only thing that Starscream could be kept in the med bay for was his glitch and since it didn't hinder the Seeker from explaining things, just made him a little silly at times, Optimus had called and requested that Starscream be brought to his office. While Ratchet would have rathered the Prime wait until Starscream's glitch left the sparkling stage, Optimus had been adamant on seeing him as soon as possible, and the medic's only consolation was that he would be sitting in on the meeting. The meeting didn't last long. Starscream absolutely refused to talk to Optimus about the reasons for his abandonment because it was 'not his business,' although the Seeker was quite clear on the fact that he no longer had ties with any of the Decepticons save for maybe his trine, but he wouldn't tell them anything while they were still under Megatron's power. All in all, the meeting went quite well, in Ratchet's opinion, and they were back on their way to the med bay for some energon by mid-afternoon.

Starscream couldn't stop giggling, still wrapped in his blanket and following Ratchet. "Didja see, didja SEE? He didn't know what to do! He wanted to laugh but he had to be all serious! It was hard being all serious myself, I'm glad I didn't have to give up my blanket, I wouldn't have liked that, and I'm being even more of a sparkling, I think it's because I had to be so serious, but it was fun anyways, and I'm so glad you don't tell me to shut up all the time, but I think that might be because my new voice isn't as annoying as my old one, but I still sound like myself, don't you think?" He made himself stop and actually WAIT for an answer to that question, giggling and trying to remember that he couldn't really skip in this body since it was larger than he kept thinking.

Ratchet smiled at the hyperactive Seeker, pleased to see him in such a good mood even after Optimus' invasive questioning. "Yes, I saw, and it was very funny watching Optimus be conflicted with himself like that," he replied, still inwardly snickering at the near desperate look Optimus had given him when he found out just how… different Starscream was. Ratchet had known that Starscream's cuteness was a weapon, but seeing him actually use it on someone other than Ratchet himself was far too funny. "And you still sound like yourself, just without the screeching. Now come on and scoot your aft back to the med bay so we can get some energon. I don't know about you, but I could really use some," he said as he rounded another corner.

"M'hum. Is 'Aid gonna be there? Or 'Jack? Whaddabout the flier, 'Aid told me he was a medic. Um, the dino flier, Swoop, I mean..." Starscream easily kept up with Ratchet, and was in fact having to work not to pull ahead of his 'guardian.' The only reason that was a worry was because Starscream still didn't know his way around and just KNEW he'd get lost. "Hey! He's a medic, he could watch me while I fly and make sure everything's okay, would that be good?" That was one thing that he hadn't yet been able to do, he hadn't been able to fly, and it was really starting to weigh on him.

"'Jack's cooped up in his workshop again, said he just HAD to get to work on some invention or other because he and Perceptor had a breakthrough on it, but 'Aid should still be around. And Swoop won't be back until tomorrow. He and his brothers went off to train on their own for a couple of weeks." And now that he'd thought about it, he hoped that none of the dinobots got themselves injured while they were away because he didn't want them seeing Starscream until after he could explain the reason they WEREN'T allowed to attack him. "It would be okay if he were to watch you while you fly to make sure everything is functioning smoothly, though," Ratchet agreed. He walked into the med bay where, sure enough, First Aid was waiting for them, data pad propped on his legs while he wrote. The medic-in-training waved to them but continued writing so Ratchet continued on to his office for energon for the three of them.

Privately, Starscream decided that he expected Wheeljack to be needing the medbay in the next couple days. "Oh... no, I don't wanna fight dinos..." He could, actually, no-one had ever bothered to disable his null-rays, and all his combat programming was still active. It just wouldn't do much for him against the dinobots. "Hi, 'Aid! Whatcha writin'? Do ya want me to leave ya 'lone?" Starscream knew he wasn't the most important thing in these mech's lives, and really didn't want to bother them, but he REALLY wanted to tell First Aid about how much fun he'd had being mean to Optimus.

First Aid curled his legs in a bit more so Starscream could sit across from him on the berth and shook his head. "I was just finishing this lesson, nothing that can't wait for a little bit. How was your visit with Prime? It went well, I'm assuming, since you're back here instead of the brig."

Ratchet came back with his arms full of cubes and handed the two mechs theirs before shuffling off to get the rest of the day's workload done. He'd let the two younglings talk for a while on their own before he sent 'Aid off to finish his studies, and there was no way he'd get Starscream to sit still while he did paperwork. He really needed to get the mech some toys or something.

Taking the energon and thanking Ratchet politely, Starscream managed not to giggle until the medic had left the room. "Weeell... you know I'm super cute, right...?" the Seeker asked, squirming into his blanket and acting just as cute as he knew how. A devious grin ruined the look, but that was okay, he was just demonstrating right now. "And he kept asking me questions like I was an adult..." Stopping the 'show', Starscream sipped at the energon. "Long story short, I finally got him speechless and feeling horrible for bullying a cute helpless sparkling, after I reassured him that nothing bad would come from having me here."

First Aid couldn't stop the giggle that burst from his vocalizer at Starscream's 'you know I'm super cute, right…?' as well as the show he was putting on. He knew just how adorable the sparkling personality could be and wasn't surprised at all to hear that the Seeker had used it on Prime. Starscream was just devious that way. He took off his facemask and took a long drink before speaking. "I'm glad it worked out. Will you be staying in the med bay still, or moving in with someone?"

He smiled at the laughter, which was exactly what Starscream had been trying to get from his... friend? Yeah, First Aid probably would be called a friend now. Not exactly his first, but the first made on something closer to an equal basis. "Dunno. He was so busy bullying me that he forgot to work that out... I guess I'm staying here, unless someone wants me..." Starscream trailed away, optics slipping from First Aid's, and then he shrugged a little and drank more. "I think my optics should be blue while I'm staying here. And I still think you should paint me a different color..." At least Wheeljack had asked before putting the 'con logos on, something Starscream was quite happy to tell him to LEAVE OFF.

"I'd offer you a place to stay but my brothers are a rambunctious lot. Ratchet will probably take you back to his quarters though, to prevent anyone from, um, taking advantage," First Aid said, looking uncomfortable. Moving on… "Would you like to have your optic color switched? We could do it right now. Changing your paint will have to wait until someone who knows how to paint can do it or it'll come out pretty sloppy, however."

"Taking advantage...? I can take care of myself, Mr Innocent-bo... oh. You didn't mean... You meant other ways..." More or less adult behavior slipped into sparkling again, Starscream trying to shrink into his blanket. "I wouldn't want to put Ratchy out. I can put up with rambunctious if they're all nice like you are, 'Aid." The offer to switch his optics right now made Starscream brighten, "Yes, please! I'd like to look more like everyone else. And paint... eh, can't I just dump a bucket over my head?"

First Aid clicked quietly for a moment. "Well, I kind of meant both ways, but you don't have to worry about it because it won't happen…" He trailed off, not particularly caring to discuss it further. "You wouldn't be putting him out. Why would you think that? He cares a lot about you. And besides, he's got more privacy than my brothers and I do, so you won't feel like you're being suffocated with him. There's almost ALWAYS someone coming or going in our quarters. I wouldn't mind having you move in, I just don't want you to be uncomfortable." He slid off the bed and motioned for Starscream to lie down. "I'll go get the lenses and my tools and you'll have blue optics in no time," he said with a smile. "I guess you could dump paint over your head if you want to make a mess, but Ratchet might weld us to the ceiling if you do."

Laying down, Starscream laughed at the idea of being welded to the ceiling. It would be fun. ...For a little while... Okay, think about something else. "Well, Ratchy's busy. He has so much to do, why would he want to take care of someone when he doesn't have to? Your rooms can't be worse than the Seeker barracks, and I was... I was okay... there." And he had been, really, though he had jumped at the chance to join a bonded trine and get out of there, even if he wasn't joining the bonding.

"Caring for people is what medics DO, Star," the Protectobot said patiently when he came back with the tools he would need to switch out the optic lenses. "And even if he wasn't a medic, he likes having you around. You know that. But I wouldn't be able to properly compare my brothers to a bunch of Seekers, so I couldn't say how much better or worse it would be if you lived with us. Either way it's probably best to ask Ratchet first, in case he already made plans. Now offline your optics, please." The Seeker did as requested and First Aid plucked a small tool from his box to lift the glass of Starscream's optics off. "You shouldn't feel anything, but let me know if you do," the medic-in-training said as he leaned over and proceeded to remove the coverings. Once he had the protective glass off, he swapped the flier's red lenses for blue and replaced the glass. "All done," he said cheerfully.

"You think I'M arrogant? I'm worse than most, but all Seekers are. I think it may be a flier thing..." Starscream would have shrugged, but he didn't want to upset First Aid's work. "It feels odd. No pain, but I actually can feel you're doing something... or, not feel, but..." The Seeker gave up on explaining what even he wasn't sure about and powered his optics up. Sitting up, he looked around, pouting slightly. "Nothing looks different. I thought it would be cool if it did... Gotta mirror? I wanna see myself, if I had a picture I could play with colors and find something that I'd look good in, but I guess I'll just have to keep imagining, but it might be hard to remember my optics are blue, they really are, right, you didn't just play a trick on me?" Not that First Aid was the type to play such a trick...

"I can show you your previous lenses if you don't believe me," First Aid replied good-naturedly. He handed over the asked-for mirror. "I think the blue suits you. And besides," the trainee said, sounding amused, "think of how much more effective that innocent sparkling show you put on will be when you're using our own optic color against us." Starscream must have been rubbing off on him, First Aid decided, if he was encouraging thoughts like that.

He barely glanced at First Aid, busy confirming that yes, his optics were blue now. A moment later, Starscream was wibbling at First Aid, lower lip pouty and trembling just the tiniest bit. "You really think so, 'Aid? You're not just saying that, you really think this will work better then watching 'con red get all innocent? A... and... you'll REALLY show me my old lenses?" Hey, so he was curious, nothing wrong with that! It was a pity this act wouldn't work on Decepticons, he could be of so much use to his friends if it did...

First Aid nearly broke at the Seeker's actions. Primus he just wanted to scoop him up and hug him forever and give him anything he wanted… He caught himself before he could and scolded the jet. "H-hey! Stop that!" he cried, flustered. "I'll show your lenses, just don't make that face at me!" That look was dangerous! He pointed to the other lenses and turned away before Starscream could inflict more of his cuteness on him. Sneaky glitch!

Starscream giggled, twisting around to look at the lenses. "Wow... those are cool! May I keep... oh, for Primus' sake, you can turn around, 'Aid! I stopped, don't need that much on you anyway. And... you could cuddle me if you wanted," the Seeker forced the last bit out. He'd kind of LIKE to be held more, and he'd noticed how the trainee's arms had twitched. But maybe he'd imagined it, or misunderstood it.

The Protectobot turned back around with a sheepish smile, although he was still wary of Starscream sneaking another attack on him. Realizing that he'd been asked a question, First Aid nodded. "You can keep them, of course," he said as he sat down by the Seeker. He wanted to hug the other and it probably showed, but even though he had been given permission he still felt too embarrassed to make the first move himself. Partially because he didn't usually hug anyone but his brothers, but mostly because he wasn't sure which personality he would be hugging.

He grinned, but it was only a happy grin, not a cuteness attack. It wouldn't do to use those TOO often, after all, or his targets might build up a resistance to them! The more adult remnants of the Seeker's glitching programming were vaguely horrified by the whole process, but the adult programming had almost glitched itself out of existence, and Starscream cheerfully ignored the remains. "Thank you, 'Aid! You're... a good friend." He looked away, not sure how his statement would be greeted, and didn't make any move to hug the red mech. He'd like it, but First Aid seemed embarrassed, and Starscream didn't want to make him so uncomfortable that he lost his friend, so he'd do without hugs.

A friend? He'd let the idea wander around in his processors the past few days, but to hear Starscream actually say it… "You're welcome," he replied, feeling giddy. "And you're a good friend too. Even if you do draw pictures that make me too embarrassed to speak sometimes." It was funny, but he didn't think he'd ever forget that picture, and he knew that if he ever ran into those two Seekers anywhere, he'd freeze up in mortification. He shyly reached over and grabbed Starscream's hand. It wasn't quite the hug the Protectobot would've LIKED to give, but it would do.

"Only 'cuz you're fun to tease," Starscream answered, looking at their hands in a kind of bubbly dream. Time passed, spent in quiet conversation for the most part, until First Aid realized he had work to do and left to do it. Left alone, Starscream tried to find things to amuse himself, looking through his old lenses and giggling at the rather ugly purple that layering them caused in his reflection. But... it was BORING in the medbay alone, he had nothing to DO... and the Seeker found himself drawn towards Ratchet's door, freezing in the entryway and biting his lower lip when the door opened.

Ratchet looked up when his door opened, setting down the datapad he'd been reading when he saw that it was Starscream. The mech's anxious expression wasn't lost on the medic and he tried to look as friendly as possible to soothe the other's nerves as he asked, "Was there something you needed?" while gesturing to one of the seats in front of his desk, inviting the Seeker in. "Lovely optics, by the way," he added. "First Aid did them for you, I'm assuming."

He saw the invitation, but didn't take it, grinding the end of his foot into the ground. Well, since he was HERE... Ratchet would be even more annoyed if he'd been interrupted for nothing. "He did. Once I get new paint, HE won't ever think I'm me... So I'll... but yeah. Um... First Aid wanted to know... Um, he wanted to know where I'd sleep. Um, live. And, well... I didn't know, so... he said I should ask you, so I'm asking, but I can go away if you're busy, I don't mean to be a bother, I know I'm bothersome, even before this I was a bother and I'm even worse now, and First Aid said I could live with him but he's not sure how I'd like being with his brothers and I don't really know and I'll go away if you want me to."

The medic stood and moved around his desk until he was standing before Starscream, physically demanding the other's undivided attention. "Starscream. First, I would like you to remember that you are NOT a bother, understand? If you were a bother, I'd probably be much crankier," he said, reaching up to lightly rub the Seeker's helm affectionately. "I've already arranged for a spare berth to be brought to my quarters for you, but if you'd like to live with 'Aid, that's fine too." Sort of, anyway. Ratchet found that he didn't much care for letting someone else take over watching over Starscream, but he wasn't going to force the flier to stay with him. "And you've got nothing to fear from Megatron anymore. He can't harm you here." Not necessarily true, but it was highly unlikely that Megatron would even come looking for the Seeker, and it would be a long time, if ever, before Starscream was allowed on the battlefield.

Cranky Ratchet sounded scary... "I... would just be intruding on them. 'Aid's my friend, but I'm not one of his brothers, he doesn't love me," there was very slight pause and Starscream's voice dropped on the word 'love'. "I... I'm not bothering you? I... Do... You don't have to let me in just to be nice, I can find somewhere else to sleep, if you're just being nice I'll start to bother you and you'll get cranky and I don't want you to be cranky, I don't want to see wha-" Starscream cut himself off and just stared at Ratchet, rocking from side to side just the smallest amount.

Not for the first time, Ratchet cursed all the extra armor everyone wore because of the war as he wound his free arm around Starscream and pulled him as close as their frames would allow, hugging the mech as best as he was able. "You're not going to bother me," he replied earnestly. "I'd be very happy to have you move in with me, really." He petted the Seeker's helm reassuringly in an effort to assuage the insecurity the other so openly displayed. "And if I ever do get cranky, I won't stay that way for long."

He stiffened at the contact, whimpering for a moment as he processed Ratchet's words. "Y... you... want me?" Starscream hated how very pathetic his voice sounded, but at least it wasn't a high-pitched screeching that made him want to offline his audios. "You... you really want... But I'm not good! I get in the way and I mess up and I can never keep my room neat and I ask questions and I babble when I'm scared and I'll make you cranky and mad at me and you'll regret it and not want me anymore!"

Ratchet cooed softly, holding the Seeker as he rambled. "Shh… There's nothing wrong with you. Sure, sometimes you'll get in the way, and everyone makes mistakes, but that's okay. We can work around all of that. There isn't anything you could do to make me regret keeping you around… You trust me, don't you? To take care of you and keep you safe? What makes this any different?" It was a bit of a low blow, but hopefully it would cement the fact that Starscream wasn't going to be neglected here, least of all by him, into the Seeker's processor.

"You might not WANT me anymore!" Starscream answered, hiding his face against the medic. He could understand what Ratchet was offering... The medic was, in his own way, offering to 'raise' Starscream for as long as it took, to put up with having a 'sparking' around who was quite knowledgeable about the world, devious, and perfectly willing to use those fact to his advantage, as well as one who had... issues. Starscream had come to terms with his issues, with knowing that his needs wouldn't be met, but now he didn't have the resources to deal with that, and Ratchet would HAVE to meet needs Starscream could barely admit to. NO ONE would want that, so why... "You'll get tired of me... you won't want me..." his words trailed off, and Starscream shook while Ratchet held him.

How strange the world had become, Ratchet reflected, that he was trying to convince Starscream, once-Second in Command of the Decepticons, that he really DID want the mech and wouldn't get tired of him. He dealt with mechs with problems all the time, and told the Seeker as much. "And I've never, NEVER not wanted one of them anymore, even when I say I do. I never mean it. Even when I kick them out of my med bay, I'm still happy that to see them alive when they come back. I love being able to take care of them, and you're no different. There isn't a thing you could throw at me that I couldn't handle," he insisted, rubbing Starscream's helm and back. Lowering his voice a little, he went on. "I don't expect you to be perfect, Starscream. I expect you to have flaws, and I expect to encounter most, if not all, of them in the future. We'll work around them."

He meant it. He really meant it. Starscream's restraint shattered at Ratchet's words, and he pressed himself against Ratchet hard enough that they both tumbled to the floor. Ratchet really meant it, and Starscream just kept chanting thank-you and holding onto the medic as hard as possible. He was going to have a home, and be wanted, and make someone happy just by being himself, and Starscream really couldn't work out how it might EVER be possible to be happier than he was right now.


	2. Chapter 2

Ratchet and Dinobots by me, Starscream by KD Zeal.

----

The rumble of large, heavy bodies moving down the corridor alerted Ratchet to the return of the Dinobots and he sighed. Well, so much for peace and quiet… "Alright, youngling, pack it up. You've got to move into the office for a bit like I told you earlier," he grumbled, helping Starscream gather the toys Wheeljack had brought for him that morning and walking him to the office.

Just as the office door closed behind the Seeker, the Dinobots marched in, arguing loudly amongst themselves over only Primus knew what; at least they had had the decency to hit the wash racks first this time, so Ratchet didn't scold them for being obnoxiously loud. Primus and everyone else knew they got enough of that from Optimus. "You know the drill, pick a berth and STAY. STILL," he ordered. With much quiet grumbling (or, in Grimlock and Slag's case, not-so-quiet grumbling) and huffy attitudes, they did as they were told. Swoop gave him a cheerful wave, at least, obviously glad to see his mentor again, which made Ratchet even more lenient towards their attitudes. Scanning and declaring a clean bill of health for each of them took less time than expected, although Ratchet was pleased to note that Swoop's welding jobs were improving greatly.

He sent the Dinos off shortly thereafter, only holding Swoop back so that he could get the whole 'introducing-Starscream' thing out of the way. As he led the pteranodon to his office, he said, "Some things have happened while you were away, and the most important of them was this." He unlocked the door and led the flier inside. While Swoop was too shocked to say anything, he gestured to Starscream. "He's moved in with us and I don't want you or any of the other Dinobots to hurt him. Got it?"

Starscream had recently discovered that, from Ratchet's office, he could monitor the whole of med-bay. It wasn't surprising, really, once he'd noticed the cameras. The hard part had been working out Ratchet's computer, but the medic was less than assiduous with logging out his sessions, and so that was less of a problem than he'd feared. The Seeker was careful not to actually snoop, he didn't want to make Ratchet mad, OR let Optimus find out just how dangerous he could still be. But... keeping an optic on what he was doing with the Dinobots, that wasn't snooping. The glitched Seeker backed out of the system as soon as he saw Ratchet leading Swoop towards the office, and was innocently playing with his toys when the door opened. He flinched as the Dinobot looked at him, biting his derma, and generally being cute and scared, and it wasn't even much of an act. Flier and medic-trainee or not, Swoop was scary.

Of all the things that he had expected Ratchet to show him, seeing Starscream (looking admittedly adorable) on the floor of Ratchet's office with a blanket draped over his wings and shoulders and playing with building toys wasn't one of them. Swoop couldn't begin to fathom what may have happened to lead to this point, but if anyone could tell him, it was Ratchet. A little more warning would have been nice though, he thought sourly. This just wasn't the kind of shock you sprung on a mech all at once! He didn't much care for the look the Seeker was giving him either. It made him feel really bad and he hadn't even done anything. He looked over to his mentor unsurely. "Ratchet?"

Sensing the desire for an explanation, Ratchet sighed and locked the door. He didn't need to have this interrupted on top of everything. He sat next to Starscream and nodded for Swoop to take a seat as well. The flier did so quietly, although he sat further away than Ratchet would've liked. He hadn't freaked out yet though, so that was a plus. Absently, the medic stroked Starscream's shoulder vent and helm to calm him and looked at Swoop. "Things have been… busy, since you left. But I can assure you that Starscream is safe. I know it's a bit to take in, most among the base are still trying to process the things I'm going to tell you. And it's very important that you find a way to make the other Dinobots understand that Starscream is NOT to be attacked. He's been through quite a bit and he no longer has anything to do with the Decepticons. But I think greetings are in order, first of all. Starscream, say hello to Swoop like a good mech."

Abandoning the toys to snuggle against Ratchet, Starscream managed to scrape up a grin for Swoop. "Hello... like a good mech." He knew perfectly well what Ratchet had meant, but the temptation to tease him was just too hard to resist. Anyway, how BETTER to prove that he was glitched? He... wanted the flier to like him, wanted it a LOT more than he'd expected. Because he was a flier? Or because he was a new person and worked with Ratchet? Starscream felt the beginnings of a headache coming on and stopped trying to think like an adult. "My name's Starscream... you know that. And you're Swoop, right? That's a fun name, fun to say, and-" he shut himself up again, Ratchet was supposed to be explaining what had happened, he could ask questions later.

Swoop was surprised by how Ratchet treated Starscream, and even more surprised with how the Seeker responded to the CMO's attentions. He replied with a slightly strained smile and a, "Hello," while he took in the Seeker's new appearance. His optics, the flier noted with even more surprise, were blue, and his voice… It hadn't sounded like that before, had it? He remembered it being much more screechy. He nodded dumbly when Starscream asked about his name, still confused as pit. Just WHAT had happened while he was off with his brothers?

Ratchet almost groaned at Starscream's quip but refrained as he wrapped an arm around the Seeker's shoulders, allowing the other to snuggle as he saw fit. He watched Swoop carefully for any negative reactions and was glad to find nothing worse than confusion in the other's features. Deciding to cut straight to the chase, Ratchet expelled air from his vents noisily to get the Dinobot's attention. "About a week ago, Hound found Starscream just about deactivated," the medic said. "We brought him back here and got him fixed up, but there have been… complications. Starscream, due to severe physical and mental trauma, has developed a glitch. His emotion programming has reverted to the sparkling stages. I won't go into the details of it but you can look it up or talk with First Aid, he's had plenty of time to observe the glitch and study on the few cases we have recorded."

"An' Ratchy? Even trying to act adult gives me headaches now," Starscream added. He wanted to TRY helping the medic, and reporting things like that might be important. The Seeker was torn; he wanted to go over and get to know Swoop better, but... Ratchet was cuddling him! And he still didn't know if Swoop would attack him or something... well, okay, he WOULDN'T, Ratchet would get mad if he did, but... "'Aid's my friend. Umm... will you be my friend eventually, Swoop?" There, maybe that would do it. If Swoop said yes, he could go over there. No reason to lose snuggles when he wasn't sure he'd get anything from it, after all!

The news of a glitch that reverted programming to the earliest stages was surprising and worrying at the same time. Swoop decided he would definitely have to find out more about it. It might explain why his brothers were so immature, he thought a little meanly. "Oh. So that why him Starscream different than me remember?" he asked. Things were just getting more and more confusing, it seemed… Normally, the fact that someone not-Dinobot wanted to be his friend would have had Swoop mentally jumping for joy, but this was Starscream, who had been almost-enemy-number-one from the time he'd been brought online. But Ratchet trusted the Seeker, and Ratchet said he had been through a lot and he hadn't ever been wrong yet, and Starscream really WAS adorable and it couldn't possibly be so bad to be friends with him, right? First Aid was, and he didn't make bad friends. Slowly, hesitantly, the pteranodon nodded.

"Does it? You shouldn't do it then. You've got to let the glitch run its course," Ratchet replied, petting the Seeker's helm. He'd have to add that into his notes later, after he'd (hopefully) sent the two fliers off to get acquainted without him hovering like a mother hen. He wouldn't leave them ALONE, not today at least, but he could give them some space. The medic looked down at his charge, wondering what he was trying to do. Especially with that deceptively sweet and innocent look on his face. "Yes, that's part of the reason he's different. I'm sure he'll enjoy telling you all about it though. He's quite talkative usually," Ratchet replied, still watching Starscream warily.

"But if I act like a sparkling I might try to hug people and they might not like it and I'd get hurt, so I try to act responsible when I'm meeting people at least a little bit, and I was being quiet because it was your turn to answer questions, but it seems to be my turn now so I'll do that, um... What does Swoop want to know?" Starscream's explanation, like usual, ended on a completely different topic, as the Seeker wormed out from Ratchet's hold and crawled the short distance to where the Dinobot sat. He could have walked, of course, but it was such a SHORT distance, and he was just going to sit back down again, so why bother?

Swoop trilled curiously. What did he want to know? That was a hard one. It wasn't like he could just ask about anything, like what had happened to put Starscream here, could he? That was a bit too personal for now. If he had been one of the Aerialbots, maybe he would have thought of something, but nothing came to mind. "Me not sure what to ask," he admitted sheepishly while Starscream sat beside him. "Maybe you tell me Swoop how you like living here? Who you Starscream stay with?"

Ratchet wondered if it would be okay to sigh in exasperation. "Starscream, if you want to hug someone, you ask permission first. Big mechs ask permission to do things." And by Primus did it feel weird to be saying that to Starscream. He let the mech go, watching in amusement when he went over to Swoop. Boy that youngling sure was forward. He stood up and moved over to his desk and plopped himself down in his chair. Sitting on the floor wasn't all it was cracked up to be. And Swoop was getting all interested now that he'd gotten over Starscream moving in. Heh, the two were practically made for each other! Inquisitive minds always seemed drawn together. Oh, the conversations they would have. Oh, the processor aches Ratchet would have. Ratchet smiled ruefully, unnoticed by the two on the floor.

Cycling his vents in a VERY exasperated manner, Starscream stuck his glossa out at Ratchet. "Am I supposed to be a big mech or a sparking, you're NOT being very clear... oooh! Dothatagain, Swoop? Pretty noise! Um..." Starscream beamed at Swoop, rocking back and forth a little. "I'm living with Ratchy! I was staying in the med-bay, but he moved a berth in last night and now I live with him and he really wants me and won't get tired of me, but I think I need to spend time with other people or he'll at least get cranky, and now that you're here I'll have a medic to fly with me in case anything happens but oh, I shouldn't just assume you'll do that, I'm sorry, that was rude of me." The Seeker tried to look appropriately abashed at assuming Swoop would be willing to do ANYTHING for him, but he couldn't really hide his emotions any more, and his eagerness was easy to see.

Make what noise…? Did he mean the trilling? Swoop cocked his head to the side and trilled again to see if it was what Starscream had meant before speaking again. "You live with him Ratchet?" he asked, glancing at his mentor. "That good, him Ratchet nice." Well, sometimes. Other times he was throwing things. "And, um, me could probably go flying with you," Swoop said smiling a little. "No need for sorry. If Ratchet say it okay…?" He looked over to his mentor, inwardly hoping he would say yes. He didn't get to fly with others, so it would be nice. The Aerialbots always looked like they were having fun, anyway.

Ratchet cycled HIS vents in a very exasperated manner right back, although the effect was ruined by his smile. "I AM being clear. You're a sparkling, but you're LEARNING to be a big mech. See? Quite simple, I think." He nodded at Swoop's questioning-hopeful look. "He's been wanting to go flying and I'd feel much better if you went with him, just to be on the safe side. Make sure everything is functioning smoothly and all." As if Swoop needed an excuse to go flying with someone else.

"But I KNOW how to be a big mech, I just can't always REMEMBER... oh. I really am literally rebuilding my programming. Interesting..." Starscream stopped thinking as Swoop trilled again, giggling and almost glomping the mech. "YES! That noise, pretty!" Cheering as Ratchet gave permission to go fly, Starscream stood and was almost at the door when he stopped, almost landing on his aft. "I need to clean up first... I don't want to leave my toys out, that might make Ratchet mad, especially since they're in his office, so you Swoop mind if I clean them up first, I won't be long!"

Swoop cheered and stood up, no less enthusiastic than his new friend. "Me Swoop take good care of him Starscream," he assured Ratchet with a wide grin. They wouldn't go far today, just around the entrance of the Ark, Swoop decided to himself. That way, if something DID happen (which he doubted it would, because Ratchet had been the one to fix Starscream, but something could have been faulty), Ratchet would be close enough to help. He knelt back down to help Starscream scoop up the little connectable parts. "Me help you clean so us can go."

"A little difficulty won't kill you. And just put them back in your box and put it on the desk, Star. And don't take your blanket out. You don't want it getting dirty, do you? And be careful while you're out today, and remember that Hound is out and about so just radio him if something goes wrong, Swoop," Ratchet said, wracking his processors for anything he thought he should mention before he let the two of them go gallivanting off together. "I want you two back before the sun goes down, and don't think I won't know if you're even an astrosecond late!"

It wasn't worth pointing out that he really did know all this stuff. Especially not worth pointing out since he would have forgotten his blanket if Ratchet hadn't reminded him, and then it WOULD have gotten dirty... Dumping the toys into his box didn't take long, neither did folding up his blanket and putting it on the box as well, and then finally Starscream kissed Ratchet's cheek and then ran out before the medic could react. He had to wait in the med bay for Swoop to catch up, though, and no WAY was he going out of the med bay alone, not when so many of the Autobots still didn't like him.

Swoop nearly laughed at the stunned expression on his mentor's face but refrained for fear of getting something large and heavy (like a desk or something, but let's not get crazy) thrown at him and said a quick good-bye before also taking the chance to bolt. He met Starscream out in the med bay and, after grabbing his 'just in case' box, led the Seeker out into the corridor. As they made their way to the entrance of the Ark, Swoop asked, "You Starscream not go too high, okay? Not want to risk you falling and me not able to catch you." It was hard not to feel protective now that he was about to take the Seeker out somewhere potentially dangerous. And it wasn't just because Ratchet would probably have his head mounted in the med bay if he did let any harm come to Starscream. "But other than that, us have lots of fun today!"

"Not go too high... You Swoop tell me when I go too high, okay? And I'll try not to go too fast, either... Ever flown with someone, I mostly know trine stuff and solo maneuvers, didn't really use pair maneuvers much, which reminds me, do you flap when you fly or not and of course I've seen you hover in once place, I can't do that, even though it would be cool, and so that'll change what maneuvers you can do, and I'm sorry, it's just been almost seven weeks since I flew and I'm surprised I'm functioning this well, but that's probably the glitch, and I swear I can shut up!" Starscream proved his declaration by closing his mouth and grinning slightly at Swoop.

"Me let you know when you too high," the pteranodon agreed. "Never flown with anyone else, all brothers stuck on ground. Me do flap wings sometimes, to go faster or higher, but me can glide too." Maneuvers? He didn't really know any maneuvers… "Me Swoop good dive bomber?" he said, posing it as a sort of question. "And it good thing me Swoop here now to take you flying, it must have been awful being stuck on ground for so long. You Starscream keep talking though, me not mind." Swoop grinned back. The entrance of the Ark was in sight now, and if all went well, they would be up in the air in just a breem or two.

"I can try showing you, but we'll have to see how you fly... and how much I can remember and stuff." Starscream realized suddenly that this was the first time he would be outside since he had been brought to the Ark. And he was almost certainly being watched, even Swoop couldn't keep him from running if he WANTED to leave, after all. "It... hasn't been fun. This glitch is the only reason I'm not insan... er, you know. Nonfunctional, maybe? I... You and 'Aid BOTH talk about brothers, what's it like to have brothers?" The first brush of wind hit Starscream's wings, and he let them rattle.

"That be nice. It sound like much fun. And that glitch have good side then." The Dinobot hummed as he thought about how to describe having brothers. It probably wouldn't be a good explanation, as he'd never NOT had brothers, but he could try. "It very irritating, sometimes. Them ALWAYS fighting and making messes. Mostly him Grimlock and him Slag. Them very… territorial. But it nice because them always around too, even when you not want them to be, but mostly when you do." Did that even make any sense…? "Me always had brothers so not sure how to explain it." They were outside at last and the weather was perfect for flying.

It sounded fun, but... Starscream decided he was perfectly happy not having brothers, and hey, it meant he got Ratchet almost all to himself. So it was a little selfish, whatever, he was ALLOWED to be selfish. "Let me feel the air again, I'll teach you later, I need to practice myself, I'm gonna be so badly out of practice, but... it doesn't really matter, does it, I don't NEED to be in practice..." It was... liberating, really, he didn't have to worry about the war, didn't NEED to be combat ready... "I'm gonna go up, I'll stay close, but I can't hover, catch me if you can, and I'll take wing-second if you need to take lead." With not much more than that warning, Starscream jumped up and transformed as soon as he could, resisting the urge to simply scream off into the sky for the sheer joy of it.

"Okay, you go ahead, me be up soon," Swoop managed to say before Starscream launched himself into the air and was off. Gaining altitude seemed like a bit of a chore, but the Aerialbots were like that on the first lift-off after a part was replaced too, so Swoop knew it was a normal adjustment to a foreign part after Starscream leveled out and didn't have any more difficulties. He watched in awe as the Seeker flew almost effortlessly, looking for any irregularities that could prove fatal while a small part of his processor devoted itself to gawking at the Seeker's abilities. Once he was sure nothing was about to fall off the Seeker, Swoop transformed and got airborne. He stayed out of Starscream's way and just flew in lazy circles while the other flier got reacquainted with his natural habitat, figuring that if Starscream wanted to do anything, he would come over.

He did a barrel roll as he came up beside Swoop, letting the Dinobot keep the lead. "Can you go faster? I'd like to go faster, I'd like to hit my top speed and check how things are there, but I know you can't fly as fast as I can, but can we at least hit your top speed?" Flying alone was fun, especially after so long, but Starscream really wanted to fly WITH someone, it was always more fun to play with a playmate. "Or show off, what can you do, how maneuverable are you, you know that would be one pit of a weird trine, you, me, and 'Fire, and I haven't even seen... whoa, talk about random thoughts. Flying is, heh, making me high."

Swoop flapped his wings harder to speed up and then tucked them in and dove in a tight spiral before angling upward again so he was level with Starscream. His top speed wasn't anything near as impressive as Starscream's, but the air still felt nice pressing against his wings. As they flew, he tried to imagine Starscream, Skyfire, and himself flying like he'd seen the Seekers do and nearly stalled out of the sky. Primus, that was a weird thought. "Me not think that would work very well," he said, giggling a little. He turned around when he noticed they were getting too far from the Ark and slowed a little so he could make a wave with his body, bobbing his head, then his torso, then his tail over and over again. "Me Swoop not mind if you go faster, just stay close or Ratchet use me for spare parts!"

It was easy to follow Swoop in the turn, but the moment the Dinobot gave his weird bobbing nod, Starscream laughed and then shot off. He doubted he'd hit top speed in the relatively short distance he had, but that was no reason not to TRY. Dropping from the sky in a landing far more controlled than it appeared, Starscream winced slightly as he stressed a couple welds and then turned to watch Swoop a little. He had to know his wing-mate's capabilities, after all, and right now Starscream found it easier not to consider that Swoop wasn't really his wing-mate.

Swoop trilled when Starscream landed, but took his time coming down. He found he kind of liked having an audience and showed off his abilities, meager as they were from only being able to learn from his mistakes, and dipped and weaved and spun his way down until he was close enough to transform and land without jarring his systems. "You Starscream done flying?" he asked curiously. He had thought Starscream would want to stay out for much longer than this, but the other probably needed to refuel and rest too. New repairs always took a bit more energy to compensate for the stress of a previously unused part.

"Um, well..." Starscream looked down, kicking lightly at the dirt. "You see, it's been a while since I've flown, and I keep wanting to go really fast and far away, and just, you know, play with the sky, but I'm kinda sore still even though I shouldn't be, and I keep expecting to dodge an attack or something, and so, well... yeah." Anyway, it was giving him a headache again, not that he was TRYING to be adult, but flying seemed to require it, at least right now. "So... c- can I hug you, Swoop?"

"Ooh. That normal. Well, not the expecting to be attacked, except this IS war… Us go inside and you rest today and we come back out tomorrow, yes?" Swoop didn't want the Seeker to stress himself, and Ratchet would surely let him bring Starscream back out again if he took good care of the mech now. He was surprised when the other asked for a hug, but the Seeker looked so adorably hopeful that he couldn't resist scooping him up in his arms and holding him close. "Me Swoop hug," he said matter-of-factly. He tried not to squeeze too tightly, but something about holding the smaller mech made him want to squeal and cling and coo in very obnoxious ways.

Starscream brightened and looked up, only to be swept off his feet by the much stronger mech. "Yes... we come out tomorrow, and fly lots!" He mewled slightly and snuggled in, holding Swoop almost as tight as he could. It was so very much different, hugging or being hugged by someone larger than he was, and... "Me feel... SAFE here. You Swoop not let ANYTHING happen to me... anything bad, at least. And him Ratchet keep me safe too!"

Swoop swelled with pride and protectiveness. "Me Swoop keep you Starscream safe," he replied, nodding decisively. No one was going to be hurting Starscream as long as Swoop was around. He'd bash heads! "Us go inside now," the pteranodon said, turning back toward the Ark. He wasn't sure if Starscream wanted to be let down so he settled for carrying him until the other asked. It felt nice to carry the Seeker around anyway. He was adorable and cuddly!

"Mmm... chirp more? Or trill? Pretty noises, I can't make them... well, Ratchy might tinker with my voc so I can... You Swoop think me should ask him? Mm... You Swoop warm, me not need blankie right now, that good..." Oh, weird, Starscream had to hold on for sure when Swoop started walking. It was an interesting motion... soothing. Pity that only Swoop would really be able to carry him... "If me not careful, me go recharge soon... Him Ratchet not like that, me need more 'gon."

Swoop readjusted his grip on the smaller flier and trilled. "Him Ratchet probably do it if you ask. It fun noise to make!" They reentered the Ark. "No recharge yet," the pteranodon agreed. They were just turning a corner when Swoop became aware of the tell-tale tremors that announced… "Uh-oh." He backpedaled frantically but wasn't quick enough to avoid being caught when Grimlock stepped out of an adjacent corridor and saw him. He didn't move as the Dinobot commander stalked down the hall in his dino mode, although he really wanted to. He hadn't gotten a chance to EXPLAIN… To make matters worse, the others were with him, and Primus, Swoop felt so screwed.

Grimlock growled lowly at the sight of his brother and stomped toward him, but faltered when he realized what Swoop was holding so protectively. Then he moved again, maw open to snap at the Seeker, only to have him pulled out of reach and partially hidden behind Swoop's bulk. "Swoop," he growled warningly. "Give. Now."

Maybe he would ask for the ability to trill. It was a VERY pretty noise... Swoop's low interjection wasn't nearly enough warning, and Starscream ended up owing quite a lot to the flying dinobot a klick later. Scrambling to find his feet again after the abrupt relocation, Starscream peered around Swoop just enough to see a very unhappy Grimlock. The Seeker froze, maybe, if he held VERY still and didn't move and didn't start screaming, maybe Grimlock wouldn't see him, or forget he'd seen him, and maybe everything would be okay... The Seeker was whimpering, keening almost voicelessly, and pressing hard against Swoop.

Swoop shook his head, keeping himself between his leader and his new friend. "No. Him not bad, you no hurt," the flier insisted. He could feel Starscream clinging to him and he got the feeling that this wasn't good for the Seeker's mental health. But Grimlock was clearly upset and the only way to dissuade him from biting Starscream in half was to explain what the Seeker was doing there in the first place, but he would have to get the other to calm down enough to listen first!

"Him bad! Him De-cep-ti-con," Grimlock growled adamantly, saying the faction name slowly as though Swoop were dense. "You give him to me Grimlock. Right. Now." He didn't like having his orders disobeyed, slaggit! He opened his maw to bite Swoop for his disobedience when Sludge's head nudged him aside so he could get a better view. As if taking a cue from their curious brother, the other two peeked around Grimlock too, although Snarl tried to make it look like he wasn't really interested. "Stop that!" the tyrannosaurus ordered to no avail. They had already seen the Seeker and were now far too curious as to why he was around to let Grimlock do anything.

"NO BITE! No bite!" Starscream shrieked, new vocalizer close enough to the old one that he could still make his voice uncomfortably shrill when he wanted to. The sight of the big scary dino getting ready to bite his friend was quite enough to send the glitched Seeker into a panic, and Starscream pushed ineffectually at Swoop, trying to move the larger mech out of danger. He barely noticed the three other pairs of optics watching him, only enough to send a pleading look towards the other dinobots. "No let him Grimlock hurt friend! Him Swoop do nothing wrong! You all help me, please?"

The pteranodon flinched at the pitch of Starscream's vocalizer but didn't budge. Grimlock could bite him if he wanted to; he wasn't moving away from Starscream. It looked as though the other Dinobot wouldn't get the chance with the others trying to make sense of Starscream's presence, though. Slag didn't look like he was too far behind Grimlock in the 'what the pit, let's just stomp him into the ground' category, but the other two seemed to be just fine with accepting the Seeker's presence and moving on. Thankfully, Sludge decided to take pity on the distressed flier and curled his long neck around Grimlock's torso to pull him back a bit.

With a small huff, Grimlock allowed himself to be pulled back. Swoop didn't disobey him without good reason, so he'd hear his brother out and THEN bite him. "Fine. You tell me Grimlock why you protect puny Decepticon." As Swoop explained the situation, Grimlock grunted and glowered and generally made an antsy nuisance of himself, but in the end, he nodded. "Me Grimlock not bash puny non-Decepticon. Not want him Ratchet to call him Wheeljack and get big lecture." The little Seeker wouldn't understand, but he knew that his brothers knew that that was Grimlock's way of accepting the change.

"Me have name," Starscream grumbled quietly, mostly to himself. "It Starscream. Or do like him 'Aid do, call me Star... but me not like being called by faction I'm not..." He still hung close to Swoop, wishing badly that he had his blankie... nice blankie, nice and warm and big... and he could talk to Ratchet, and... "Y- You Grimlock make Swoop stop playing with me?" he asked, frightened, letting his lower lip quiver. "Me LIKE playing with Swoop...!"

Swoop relaxed when Grimlock made his acceptance known. He allowed Starscream the space to move out from behind him if he wanted, smiling gratefully at his brother. "Thank you," he said, but tensed again when Starscream asked if Grimlock would stop them from playing together and looked back at the other dinobot. He wouldn't, would he…?

Grimlock grumbled and nodded to show he'd heard the other. "Starscream then. Me not make you and him Swoop stop playing. Other Dinobots get to play too." It was a demand and he made sure that Starscream knew it by glaring pointedly at him. The previously quiet Dinobots took this as their cue to start talking and began blabbing all at once, attempting to talk over each other. In the end, Slag won the right to talk first, if only because he butted harder than the other two cared to.

"Me Slag NOT play with him!" the triceratops said hotly, managing to convey his glare clearly despite the lack of proper face-structure. "Him not Dinobot and me Slag not like him one bit!"

Sludge frowned at his more volatile brother, forgetting what he had wanted to say in the first place in favor of arguing. "Him Starscream not Dinobot but him want to play with US, so me Sludge say us play with him!" he replied, daring the other to contradict him. Not that Starscream had actually said such, but if the Seeker liked Swoop, he would like the rest of them too, right?

As the two started bickering loudly with one another, using not-so-creative insults to declare who was the stupider of the two, Snarl stepped around them and pressed his head against Starscream's side, nuzzling the warm metal. Quietly, he said, "Me Snarl think him Slag AND him Sludge dumb. Us go play now, them catch up when them done being stupid." The stegosaurus looked to Grimlock in confirmation and received a nod.

Starscream nodded a little in answer to Grimlock's question, or demand... of COURSE he'd play with all the Dinobots, if they wanted to be his friends! He was more than a little confused as an argument broke out, wondering if First Aid's brothers were as... competitive? Holding Swoop and watching, the Seeker was surprised by a gentle nuzzle. He grinned at Snarl's words, but then drooped a little, "Um... me WANT to play with you Snarl, but... me tired. Went flying and met you Dinobots, and got scared, and..." Carefully, he hugged the stegosaurus, not wanting to hurt his feelings. "Um... if we can do something that doesn't include running around or something, maybe?"

Swoop glowered at Sludge and Slag, but they were on a roll and nothing would be stopping them for a while. He turned his attention back to Starscream, nodding in agreement with his words. "Us have to get him Starscream fuel before anything," he told the others. "Then us go to Dinobot room and play."

"Us have energon in own room, not have to stop anywhere." Grimlock pressed his snout against Snarl's flank, pushing him aside so he could get closer to Starscream. "Me Grimlock leader. Me carry Starscream," he insisted, leaving no room for argument. He squatted next to the Seeker and looked at him expectantly.

Snarl acquiesced willingly, moving so Grimlock would have plenty of room for Starscream to climb on his back. "Energon, then us play," he agreed. "Us have blocks that Wheeljack make for us, lots of shapes for lots of buildings. Or make shadow puppets. Us not have to move much, except if Slag start fight."

"M- me want blankie..." Starscream whimpered slightly, hearing that they would NOT be making a stop to medbay. Of course, this didn't stop him from shuffling closer to Grimlock. He looked... less scary now. He actually looked... fun to cuddle. Maybe. If he didn't bite or anything... "Blocks fun... What shadow puppets? Me... not hear that phrase?" Finally deciding there was nothing for it, Starscream clambered onto Grimlock's back, giving his own mewl that badly wanted to be a trill. He was warm...! And it was VERY comfy here, almost like it was made for his frame...

Starscream's distressed whimpers made Swoop cringe. "Us can go get blankie? Have to tell him Ratchet where you going anyway, or him get mad." He said it as much as a reassurance to the Seeker as it was a plea to Grimlock, who was now carrying Starscream on his back. "And shadow puppets lots of fun! Turn off all lights then take little light and put fingers in front of it and make shapes! Us show you, you like it!"

Grimlock grunted slightly at the weight of the Seeker but compensated for it easily. He patted one of the arms wrapped around his neck with a clawed hand and set off down the hall in the direction Swoop had been headed originally. "Us get blankie first," he consented. As the sounds of Slag and Sludge's arguments dwindled away, the tyrannosaurus relaxed. Those two were so fragging obnoxious sometimes. "You have lots of fun with Dinobots, us best at playing!" Grimlock boasted.

Snarl trailed after his brothers contentedly. Grimlock was thoroughly distracted by the ex-Decepticon, and so would not be trying to make the other Dinobots do more 'family' things, Swoop was likewise detained, Sludge and Slag were arguing somewhere far away from him, and with any luck, a nap was just around the corner. The others wouldn't even notice if he slipped off to get some time to himself. After shadow puppets, anyway, because Grimlock always managed to make some weird ones that never failed to amuse.

"Mm... Thank you, Swoop, Grimmy. Me know it weird, but him Ratchy say it's the glitch, so me want blankie even when me no need it, and me not really need it, me warm here, you Grimlock very warm and comfy, but me still want blankie, and me not want Ratchy to worry." Starscream didn't have the energy to go off on one of his long explanations. It didn't take long to get his blanket from Ratchet, and as they started towards the dinobot's rooms, the Seeker couldn't help but giggle.

The look on Ratchet's faceplates when he'd seen Starscream hitching a ride on Grimlock's back had been priceless, and would be a great source of personal amusement for the Dinobots for a long time. Swoop was still having difficulty containing his laughter as they entered the room the Dinobots had claimed for themselves. It had likely been a common room before the ship crashed but no one used it anymore and it was big enough for all five Dinobots to live in relatively comfortably. The pteranodon helped Starscream off Grimlock and grinned widely. "This Dinobot home!" he informed the Seeker happily, gesturing at the room in general.

Grimlock shook out the kinks in his gears and went to the toy box, hooked his teeth into the handle on the side and dragged it to the center of the room they kept clear for their play area. "This toy box. Everything shared, no minesy, yoursy," Grimlock said before he walked off again, headed for the energon cubes. When he came back, he had four cubes in his diminutive arms, which he proceeded to hand out.

Snarl nosed the box open and procured his favorite plush before moving away from the others, giving a defiant glare to Grimlock as he curled around the stuffed gorilla. "Me Snarl play later. Watch everyone else now," the stegosaurus declared when Grimlock placed one of the cubes by him.

"All shared, right. Is very nice home! Thank you for energon, Grimmy!" Starscream was very careful to clearly enunciate the word energon, and then decided that, as he was here to play, no-one would mind if he lapped the energon up again. Setting the cube he had been given onto the floor, the Seeker lay down, arms folded under him for support, and started licking at the energon, humming happily to himself. He knew there were other fun ways to lick up energon, but also remembered enough to know that Ratchet would blow a fuse if he tried any of them. Maybe he should try them with First Aid, it might be fun to tease him.

Swoop thanked Grimlock and giggled at Starscream's actions. He decided that it looked like fun so he mimicked it until he couldn't reach any further without crushing the cube. He sat back up to drink the rest normally after that and noticed the odd look his brothers were giving him. He smiled sheepishly, ducking his head a little. He drained his cube and moved over to the box, pulling out the box with all of their building blocks in it. "Us play now?" he asked, looking at Starscream, who was still contentedly lapping at his energon.

Huffing at Snarl's antisocial behavior, Grimlock shrugged and sat down a little ways away so he could supervise everyone while he refueled. Starscream and Swoop were both being silly but he let it slide, not wanting to upset the two younger mechs. No harm in a little fun. He drank his energon quickly and scooted his mass closer to the blocks when Swoop pulled them out. "Me Grimlock play too."

The stegosaurus stuck his glossa out at the larger dino after he finished the cube the other had given him, but didn't otherwise complain about the look he'd been gifted with. They could play without him for a while, he just wanted to lie down and relax for a while. "You Grimlock make big city again!" he demanded when the tyrannosaurus picked up a couple of the blocks and began stacking them.

Once again, Starscream was torn. He wanted to go cuddle with Snarl, but he wanted to play, too. Grimlock seemed to want him to play, and... Starscream didn't really want to push Grimlock. Maybe he could cuddle with Snarl later... "We can make big city and knock it down?" Starscream asked, crawling over and picking up his own block. Sure, he'd never done it before, but what ELSE did one do with blocks, anyway?

Swoop trilled excitedly, obviously enamored with Snarl and Starscream's ideas. "Big city fall down!" he said, bouncing a little. "Grimlock make big city and stomp it!" He began stacking blocks near Grimlock, hoping to entice his brother to topple them over by proximity alone.

With a snort at the others' comments, the oldest dinobot began stacking the blocks up and humming to himself. "Me Grimlock topple if me Grimlock WANT to," he said firmly, but twisted his alt mode's face into something resembling a smile. Of course he would knock these puny buildings down! They were no match for his superior strength!

Snarl smiled, rubbing his face against the small gorilla (by Dinobot standards) plushie while he watched the others manufacture the miniature city one building at a time. After a breem or so of watching them, he picked up the plush in his mouth and scooted closer to get a better look. One of the others had pulled the little action figures from the toy box and scattered them in 'terrified' positions among the buildings, apparently in anticipation of Grimlock's 'attack.' The construction of the city was almost done, so Snarl wrapped his tail around Starscream and pulled him over so he could watch the destruction without worry of getting in the way.

Starscream gave Swoop an envious look as the pteranadon trilled. He DEFINITELY had to get Ratchet to let him do that. It was SO PRETTY. It didn't take very long for Starscream to get caught up in the fun of stacking the bricks as high as he could reach, and he gave a confused keen when a tail wrapped around him and pulled him away from the toys. Realizing it was just Snarl, the Seeker decided he agreed that it was time for snuggles, and curled up against the stegosaurus, optics still watching Grimlock. He was fairly sure he'd seen something similar to what was coming... some human movie? Why would he have watched something like that?

Balancing the last little triangular block atop his building, Swoop stood back to admire their handy work before moving out of the way so Grimlock could have the run of the place. It was always fun to watch Grimlock 'destroy' the buildings like they'd seen in that one movie. "All done," he proclaimed, which was Grimlock's signal to start the reenactment.

Grimlock put on his best 'Grimlock angry, Grimlock smash!' face and stomped around the buildings, roaring. He used his tail to knock over the base of the towers and gleefully watched them tumble down around him. Once he was thoroughly satisfied with the mayhem he'd caused, he stopped stomping and turned to his audience with an obvious 'well?' expression.

As he wasn't in root mode, the stegosaurus couldn't clap, so he thumped his tail against his hide a few times to show the other Dinobot his appreciation for the show. "That even better than last time, good idea with little figures," he complemented, shifting to wrap himself more tightly around the Seeker cuddled against his flank.

"YAY! Fall down, fall down!" Starscream giggled, clapping along with Snarl's thumping. "Yay Grimmy!" He grinned as the Stegosaurus commented on the figures, "That me Starscream's idea! Me not tall enough to reach top of buildings, so me put figures all around because I know how... they... run..." Glee faded to unhappiness, and the Seeker tried to hide under his blanket and against Snarl. They didn't LIKE Decepticons, he shouldn't have reminded them about that...

Swoop cooed worriedly when his new friend trailed off, sounding miserable. He gave the blanket a gentle tug only to find it immovable and pouted. "Starscream? It okay…" When that elicited no response from the smaller mech, Swoop crawled over Snarl's side and tried to peek under the blanket, to no avail. He sat back up and gave his brothers a distressed frown, hoping they would have better luck.

How did one comfort an ex-enemy? Grimlock wasn't any good at comforting anyway, but he would try. He nudged the bundle of Seeker with his snout. "You Starscream come out now, us not upset. You do good job with little toys. Very realistic."

Snarl sighed at his brothers' unproductive attempts to comfort the distressed mech curled into his side. "You Starscream not Decepticon anymore, so us not get mad. You better now, so come out," he crooned softly, nuzzling the Seeker in an attempt to coax him out of his huddled position.

It was very hard to stay hidden with two metal snouts being nudged into him, and Starscream peeked out from under his blanket, only moving enough to expose his optics, really. "You... not angry? But... me was BAD mech!" and Starscream whimpered, hands coming up to clutch at the side of his head. Oh, this was just WEIRD. He remembered joining the Decepticons, remembered just WHY he had joined... and those reasons hadn't changed, not really. The only reason he wasn't still with them was because Megatron had turned on him, betrayed him... Starscream's ideals hadn't changed, he still didn't think organics were anything special at all, and who CARED about this planet, anyway? But... he didn't want to upset Ratchet, didn't want to make his caregiver (Creator, his processor tried to input) angry with him... Starscream DIDN'T feel guilty about what he'd done, not about most of it, and yet his emotional programming screamed at him that Creator would say NO, Creator would say it was BAD, and that meant HE was bad, meant that Starscream was a bad mech who'd done bad things. Starscream curled up further as the emotional and logical centers of his processor came into conflict.

The dinobots exchanged worried glances at Starscream's behavior, unsure of how to react. He'd been fine just a breem ago… Swoop considered trying to convince the Seeker that they weren't angry, but he really didn't seem to be listening, so the flier didn't bother. He knew the mood swing wasn't healthy and decided that it was better to be safe than sorry and scooped up the Seeker. "Me take him to Ratchet," he told his brothers as he adjusted the Seeker into a more comfortable position. The others nodded and watched him leave. As Swoop tromped to the med bay, he cuddled Starscream. "It going to be okay, Starscream. Him Ratchet make everything better."

THAT was something both centers could agree on. Ratchet both COULD and WOULD make everything better. Starscream clung to Swoop, still whimpering pathetically. "Me sorry... me not WANT make them worry... Me want play more lat..." Starscream trailed off with a keening whimper, and barely noticed as they reached the medbay.

Swoop cooed soothingly as he entered the med bay. "It okay, us play again soon…" he assured as the door to Ratchet's office opened and he stepped inside. "Ratchet, something wrong with him Starscream!" the pteranodon exclaimed without waiting for his mentor to acknowledge him. "Us playing with blocks and then him Grimlock make them fall down and him Starscream happy and then him not!"

Ratchet jolted in surprise at the sudden intrusion, but pushed it aside when he processed what Swoop was saying. He nearly tripped getting out of his chair but once he managed to get his footing, he pushed Swoop toward the berth and helped him arrange the quietly keening Seeker atop it. After a second's thought, he sent Swoop away, saying he would let the other know how Starscream was doing once he'd managed to calm the flier down. Once Swoop was gone, he sat beside the Seeker and leaned over him. "Starscream? What's wrong?"

"I'm not sorry!" Starscream managed to get out, twisting from one side to the other. "I'm not sorry, and I've done things you'd say are bad so I'm a bad mech but I'm not sorry and I remember joining, I joined because he was RIGHT and he hurt me, he HURT me, but he was right and I stayed and he doesn't want me but he was still RIGHT and I joined for a REASON and the reasons haven't changed and I did things that you would say are bad and I'm not SORRY for them and so I'm bad and so you're going to get mad and hurt me to-" Starscream looked away, shaking his head more, "No, you won't, me know that... but won't KEEP me, at least."

Ratchet sat back calmly, thinking of how to best reply to Starscream's defiant claims. He had expected Starscream to eventually confront the fact that he had been a Decepticon and that he'd done many bad things, but the optimistic part of the medic had hoped it could be avoided until later on, after Starscream had been able to settle down and accept the fact that Ratchet really wasn't going to get rid of him because of his past or his faults. Too much to hope for, clearly. Well, first things first… "Starscream, do you remember what I said to you yesterday? About wanting you with me no matter what? Now would be a good time to remind you that I DID and DO mean that, I think. I know what you did as a Decepticon, slag, I repaired the majority of the damage you inflicted. And I never thought you would just up and regret doing any of it, but that doesn't make me want you any less." The medic pulled himself fully onto the berth and scooted until his back was against the wall before holding his arms out to the Seeker. "Come here," he ordered softly.

He WANTED to go, wanted to crawl into Ratchet's arms... but the medic didn't understand! He didn't GET it... "I'm a BAD MECH and I'M NOT SORRY! I shot at you, I shot at squishes, I shot and made them run and laughed and Megatron hurt me but he was RIGHT and THAT HASN'T CHANGED!" Didn't Ratchet get it? It wasn't what he'd done, that was over and past... it was the reasons for the actions. "Even though he's meaner now... he's still sending the energon to Cybertron, he's still trying..."

Resisting the urge to bang his head against the wall, Ratchet leaned over to give the blanket Starscream was hiding under a firm tug. "SO? You've been nothing but good since you got here, but I'm not going to ask you to change who you ARE just because you're living with me!" he growled. "It doesn't change the fact that you're mine now and that I care about you!" The CMO winced at the possessiveness he hadn't meant to express, but didn't try to take it back. He paused to see if Starscream would react, then huffed and crossed his arms, leaning back again. "Fine. Stay over there and be a brat. I'll just sit here until you're ready to accept that I'm not sending you away. You're not getting rid of me THAT easily."

"WHY!? Why the SLAG you care about me? WHY you want keep me? I'm still me, you HATE me, you hate the side I joined..." Screaming, the Seeker went so far as to aim his null-ray at Ratchet, trying... he wasn't sure what he was trying to do. Ratchet didn't react, just sat there with his arms crossed, and finally Starscream lowered his arm. "Megatron wanted me, but he wanted to hurt me... you won't hurt me, but why... what do you WANT from me?" Starscream howled, throwing himself at Ratchet and burrowing against him, shaking.

Ratchet expelled air from his vents, all the fight leaving him as suddenly as it had come in the face of his charge's distress. He wrapped his arms around the Seeker and pulled him close. "I care because I want to. Because you deserve that much. And I don't hate you," he murmured as he rubbed the flier's wings. "I never did, although I admit I did dislike you quite a bit." Ratchet rocked them back and forth for a breem or so, holding Starscream tightly. He nuzzled the other's helm and then kissed it before he spoke again. "I don't want much, really," he started conversationally. "Just a 'thank you' every now and again would be nice, and you picking up after yourself never goes unnoticed either." It was a terrible attempt to put Starscream in a better mood, but he HAD asked what Ratchet wanted from him…

Shaking, Starscream simply absorbed the attention, the soft touches, letting the words just wash over him. "Seekers are... very tactile," he said quietly, stroking Ratchet in return. "Even though TC and 'Warp are bonded, we still touched and... you know. A lot. Even before them... That's just something Seekers do, you go a little crazy if you DON'T. I- I mean, if you don't snuggle and touch. It's just, you know, that often leads to THAT. Not many actually... know that... I didn't like to be touched, though, he..." Biting his derma, the Seeker looked up, "I try to pick up after myself, even though my lab was always messy."

The medic smiled a little when Starscream relaxed against him. He wasn't entirely sure why Starscream had chosen to talk about how physically needy Seekers were, of all things, but as long as the Seeker seemed to accept that Ratchet wasn't getting rid of him, Ratchet found he didn't really care. He pet the flier's helm and said, "That's good to know." And it was. They didn't have Seekers and, by proxy, didn't have much information on their needs, so any knowledge on them was helpful. "And you've been doing a very good job with your toys and stuff, so I'm not too worried about you keeping the place decent looking; I was just saying."

"I know I'm... Well, even though I know... 'things', I know I'm not... ready? for them anymore. Even though I've done. I mean... If I'm doing... If I seem like I'm doing... trying to do, that, I'm... I'm not. I'm... I was, more direct about, you know, verses just cuddling. Not that I... So, anyway, I... don't know... um, non-Seeker bodies? So if I'm, then just tell me, because I don't mean to, you will KNOW if I ever... And I've been being very careful to say thank you and please, you can ask Swoop about it!" He'd forgotten how much cuddling helped, how very strongly it sent the message of being wanted and safe and... "If you never hated me... could you ever love me?"

"Alright. I didn't expect anything like that anyway. I'll let you know if you touch anything, erm… sensitive, too," Ratchet said awkwardly. Sure, before he had realized Starscream was developing a glitch, he'd had an (admittedly guilty) fantasy or two of touching the Seeker in an intimate way, but after the glitch made itself known, those thoughts had gone right out the proverbial window. Grateful for yet another topic change, Ratchet laughed a little. "Oh yes? How do I know you haven't used that devious 'I'm cute, obey me' look on him?" the medic teased good-naturedly. "You're the one of the most sneaky mechs I've ever dealt with, and that's saying something since I deal with the twins on a near-daily basis!" Ratchet faltered in surprise at the question Starscream asked, but he felt, afterward, that he shouldn't have been so surprised at all. Everyone wanted to be loved and the Seeker was surely no exception. After much deliberation, he settled for, "I imagine I could love you, someday. It's certainly possible."

"Umm... Him Swoop has pretty trill... you Ratchet make me able to trill?" His Creator didn't think he was a bad mech, even if he HAD done bad things and wasn't sorry for them... "You know... For 'cons, being called sneaky is kinda a compliment. I know we're not 'cons... but can I pretend that was a compliment?" Flying, and the completely unexpected emotional ups and downs of the day were beginning to extract their price from Starscream, and he curled up, moving his head so Ratchet was stroking a better spot.

"I'm sure we can work something out," Ratchet replied. "And you can take it as a compliment if you like. I guess it kind of was anyway. You being sneaky in that way will certainly help when some of the others come around. I don't think there'll be anyone who can resist you forever." Realizing he was rambling, Ratchet closed his mouth. He looked down at Starscream and smiled fondly at the drowsy look on the flier's face. "You need to rest," he said softly. "Lay down in here and I'll wake you so we can move to our quarters when my shift is over, okay?"

Starscream gave something that sounded like a purr and nuzzled Ratchet. "Thank you, Ratchy... I'm gonna rest now. Been hard day... Tell Swoop me okay? Don' want... him worry..." Recharge came quickly, and Starscream was soon lying on the berth under his blanket resting peacefully.

----

Starburst: =D I'm glad you like him. He turned out super cute, in my opinion.

Quetzalcoatls: Yay! I hope this chapter was to your expectations.

Shirox: Thanks =)

To anon and An Sionnach: I'm kind of bummed that you stayed anonymous to say only bad things about the fic, seriously.

Despite whatever they're teaching in schools these days, life isn't all about you and your desires. Yes, I do realize this could have been edited. You may feel differently, but – and I do not speak for my co-writer here, so his opinion on the matter may be different – I think that any further editing to the structure of the RP would have taken away some of the things that make ME happy with it, and that would be unacceptable. It was written with the intention of being shared with the general public as an RP, and I do apologize if that put you off the story, BUT I see no reason to change something that pleases me to please you.

Carmilla DeWinter: I do plan to post the entire story (it's not done yet, we kinda let it sit for a while), but as you guys will notice, I'm terrible about remembering to update… X.x;; It makes me happy that you like it so far, I hope you continue to.

cmdrtekk: =D I'm glad you liked it so far!

glompmeXD: =) Thank you.


End file.
